


The Kunoichis That Didn't Belong

by soer



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-02-11
Updated: 2007-02-11
Packaged: 2017-12-23 01:42:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 28
Words: 47,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/920511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soer/pseuds/soer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sakura, Hinata, Ino, TenTen, and Temari feel useless, weak, and that their team doesn't need them. Together, they undergo some secret training to become stronger. One day, they can't take it any longer so they leave the team. </p><p>Story Complete!<br/>Originally posted on FFN and now cross posted to Ao3, includes exact same text and story with minor changes.</p><p>PLEASE NOTE THAT this is one of my earliest works and I started it back in 2007, (Feb 11th) and it took me until 2010 (June 30th) to complete! Over the course of three years, this story has experienced severe growth in terms of writing style and plot. I hope you are willing give this story a chance and read it until the very end.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Beginning

**The Kunoichis That Didn't Belong**

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto or any characters in it. This is PURE FAN FICTION!

Chapter 1

"Aagh!" Hinata cried as she tumbled down the hill. Shino, Kurenai, Kiba, and Akamaru ran down after her.

"Hinata! Are you okay?" Kurenai asked. Hinata sat up, and they ran to her. "Are you hurt? Aw man! I knew that this training was too much!" Kiba exclaimed.

"Huh? But-But I-I-I'm fine!" Hinata protested.

"No. Kiba's right. Why don't you go home an get some rest?" Shino told her, and Kurenai nodded in agreement.

"Demo! I can still train!" Hinata protested, but seeing her teammates' and sensei's faces, her face fell and she said softly, "Alright." Hinata got up and walked away slowly as if they might change their minds and call her back. But they didn't. They just watched her go.

* * *

"Watch out!" Naruto screamed.

"Huh?" Sakura turned and looked at him. "What did you say, Naru—oomph!" A flying disk that had whacked her head cut off Sakura's sentence.

"Sakura! Are you okay?" Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi ran over to a dizzy Sakura.

"Ugh." Sakura sat up and rubbed her head.

"Are you okay Sakura? Maybe you should take a break…" Kakashi rubbed his chin.

"Huh? No, I'm fine, let's keep training!" Sakura stood up and tried to look and sound energetic. It was a futile attempt. Sasuke put a hand on her shoulder. "Huh? Sasuke?" Sakura looked at his hand on her arm, and then she started to blush.

"Kakashi is right. Training may not be so suitable for you right now. You should take a break."

"Huh? Oh… Okay then…" Sakura quickly put up a happy face. "You're right! I probably should take a break, so I'll see you guys later then! Mata atode aimashou!" Sakura waved at them before walking away. When her back was to them, her face let the fake happiness fall, and her team watched her leave.

"Ino! Are you alright?" Choji, Asuma, and Shikamaru ran over to Ino. She was rubbing her head.

"Sheesh. Troublesome woman." Shikamaru sighed. "Look Ino. Maybe it would be better if you just continued your training as a medic ninja so that you can be a little more helpful in battle if you can't use your techniques, okay?"

Ino glared at him before sighing. Ino stood up and gave them a happy (fake) understanding smile. "Alright. I was supposed to meet Sakura at Tsunade-sama's office, anyways, so I guess that ill see you later!" Ino waved, and then walked away from them.

* * *

"…Temari." Gaara said. "Sorry."

Temari stood up, ready for more training, but Baki raised a hand for her to stop and then said, "Temari, I think that this will be enough training for you today."

"But why?" Temari asked confused. "Your attacks are becoming dull—weak even. It's time you train a bit more after thinking about what you need to improve on." He told her.

"Oh...Okay then. I understand." Temari then started to walk away.

* * *

"Let us run 1000 youthful laps!" Gai cried.

"Yes, Gai-sensei!" Lee said, and then he, Neji, and TenTen started to run laps.

On their 100th lap, Neji 'accidentally' tripped TenTen and she crashed into a tree.

"TenTen! Are you alright?" Lee asked while jogging in place.

"I'm fine, but Neji! What the hell was that for?!" TenTen cried as she stood up and glared at Neji.

"You tripped on a rock." Neji told her calmly.

"Grr…" TenTen said, gritting her teeth.

"Look TenTen. If you can not run anymore youthful laps, you may just say so, then you may allow Gai-sensei to let you take a break." Lee told her after she didn't move for three minutes.

TenTen glared at him. "I. Am. Fine." She growled. "But I guess I should take a break anyways." TenTen started to walk away.

"Okay TenTen! You go do that, and when you feel better you may come and finish your youthful laps!" Lee said cheerfully and waved good-bye to her.

As Sakura headed towards the Moochi shop that was near Ichiraku's Ramen shop, she spotted Ino, Temari, TenTen, and Hinata also headed over there. However, she was feeling too badly left out to actually tease Ino, so she just didn't call her any names.

(+At the Moochi Shop+)

"...So. Temari, how are you settling in Konoha?" Sakura asked as they sipped some jade tea.

"Hm? Fine, I guess." Temari replied as she sipped her tea. (Yes, the Sand now lives in Konoha; don't ask me how/why—I'll explain later as the story furthers.)

"So tell me." TenTen asked as she also sipped her tea.

"Temari. Ino. Sakura. Hinata. What brings you here to the Moochi shop?"

"…Well actually… my teammates and Kurenai-sensei told me to take a break…" Hinata said quietly.

"… Same here." Sakura said dryly.

"Me too…" Ino drawled.

"Yep." Temari sighed.

"So we're all the same?" TenTen asked. The five kunoichi nodded their heads in agreement. They drank some more tea in silence before Sakura laughed quietly and suddenly.

"What's so funny, billboard-brow?" Ino commented. Sakura glared at Ino before responding to her question.

"Don't call me billboard-brow, Ino-pig. Anyways. I thought that it was sort of funny. I mean, we're all the same. Ignored and thought worthless in the eyes of our teammates and mentors. Right?" There was a minute of silence before Temari answered. "You know… I think that you're actually right, Sakura."

"Um… I have a question…" Hinata looked down at her fingers.

"What is it, Hinata?" TenTen asked, looking at Hinata while sipping her tea. "Well, Sakura is right—it  _is_  kind of funny on how we all came here with the same reason, but that got me thinking." Hinata said quietly.

"And? What is it?" Ino asked, while eating some moochi. "Well… I know that this might sound weird…but…" Hinata paused.

"Go on." Sakura encouraged.

"Yeah, keep going." Ino said, taking interest. Hinata looked at her fingers. "Well…It's just that ever since I saw you guys also going to the Moochi shop, then entering, I've… felt something like a …" Hinata fumbled around on how to describe it. "Something like a little, kind of… _pull?_  On my past?" Hinata looked down again. "I know it sounds weird, but… that was the only word I could use to describe it…" Hinata faltered.

There was silence before TenTen responded to Hinata's statement. "I agree." TenTen looked at Hinata. "That does sound a little weird, but it probably sounds weirder when I say this. I felt that way too at exactly the same place and time as Hinata." TenTen told them. There was a minute of silence before Sakura, Ino, and Temari responded with a, "Me too."

They sat in silence before Temari spoke up. "Okay. Since we all feel left out, and a tug on our past, we'll meet together to find out what the tug is. Okay?" Temari looked around. "Or how about this—since we all feel left out, if anything more makes us feel worse, then we meet here one week from now, talk about it, and then decide if we want to do anything further, okay?"

At this, Sakura, Ino, TenTen, and Hinata nodded.

"Good." Temari stood up. "Now, I'm going to go train some more, okay?" The other kunoichi nodded in agreement. Then they too stood up, said good-bye to the other, and headed off to train some more.

(+At Ichiraku's Ramen Shop+)

"Hey, how's it going, Naruto? Sasuke?" Kiba asked as he, Shino, and Akamaru came in sight of the ramen shop.

"Hi Kiba! Shino! Akamaru!" Naruto cried, waved to them, and they waved back. Sitting in the ramen shop, as Sasuke and Naruto were telling Kiba, and Shino about the day's training, then Neji, Lee, Choji, Shikamaru, Gaara, and Kankuro appeared, and joined into the conversation.

"—she got whacked by the flying disk that we use in training, and she didn't even try to dodge it when she knew it was coming!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Dang." Choji said.

"I know." Sasuke said.

"That  _is_  lame." Kiba agreed.

"Hn." Was all that Gaara and Neji said.

"Yes, I agree." Kankuro said.

"Quite lame indeed." Shino said.

"Poor Sakura." Lee moped.

"So troublesome." Shikamaru sighed.

"Well it's getting late. Best be going now." Shino told them. They nodded and headed off.

* * *

**Well, that's Chapter One! Hope you liked it, and please review! This is my fist fanfic, so yeah! Couples are not concluded yet, though.**

**Translations:**

**Demo: But**

**Mata atode aimashou: See you later!**


	2. Decision

Disclaimer: I dont own Naruto or any of the characters.

Well here's Chapter 2 of  **The Kunoichis That Didn't Belong!**  Enjoy!

* * *

(+Monday+)

"Hinata."

"Y-Yes, Father?" Hinata stuttered.

"I think it would be best if you spent your free time to train more." Hiashi Hyuuga told her.

"I am, though!" Hinata protested. "Apparently, not enough."

"…Oh…okay then…" Hinata got up. "Um… I have to go train with Kiba-kun, Shino-kun, Kurenai-sensei and Akamaru now…" Hiashi nodded.

"Go then." "Y-Yes, Father…" Hinata bowed, then walked out of the Hyuuga residence. ' _He thinks that I am weak…_ ' Hinata thought miserably.

(+Monday still/ Training Grounds/ Team 8+)

"Hinata… maybe we should stop for today…" Kiba said worriedly.

"Yes. Kiba is right. You are apparently in no condition to fight." Shino reasoned.

"Huh? But! Why…" Hinata looked at her teammates' and sensei's worried faces. "Al-Alright…" Hinata got up and left. ' _WHY? Why do they think that I am weak? Can't they see that I'm at least **trying**  to improve?!_'' Hinata thought sadly as she walked away.

"Do you think that Hinata is weakening the team?" Hinata heard Kurenai's faint but clear voice. Hinata's mind froze, but she couldn't hear their conversation anymore.

(+Tuesday Morning/ Training Grounds/ Team 7+)

"FINALLY, SAKURA-CHAN!" Naruto yelled as he and Sasuke saw Sakura running to their training grounds.

"Gomen nasai, Naruto, Sasuke-kun." Sakura apologized. She looked around. "Eh? Where's Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked, confused.

"Hmm? Oh yeah. Kakashi-sensei is always half an hour late these days." Naruto said with his hands crossed. "Say, Sakura?"

"Yes, Naruto?"

"Since you finally decided to show up, what took you so long?"

"Sorry, but Tsunade-sama wanted me to stack up some documentary things." Sakura said.

"Hmm, okay then… Oi! Kakashi-sensei! Over here!" Naruto yelled while waving to Kakashi.

A few moments later during their training session…

"Sakura-chan! Are you okay?" Naruto cried as he, Sasuke, and Kakashi ran over to Sakura.

"I'm fine." Sakura tried to assure them, but was failing.

"Hmm… that wound looks pretty nasty… maybe you should stop train for now and go to the hospital, or pay a visit to Tsunade-sama?" Kakashi suggested.

"Um, okay then… I guess I'll be going then…" Sakura got up and started to walk away. ' _Baka!'_  Inner Sakura raged. ' _I'm a medical nin, I can heal myself!'_  Sakura gritted her teeth as she walked away from her group, with her hand on her injury, healing herself while walking away.

Further ahead, she spotted Ino also in front of the Hokage's building with a nasty wound on her leg that she was healing. "Hey, Ino." Sakura said as she walked towards Ino. "Hm? Oh, hi Sakura." Ino said, trying to hide the wound on her leg, but stopped when she saw Sakura's own wound.

"Wounded during training?" Sakura asked, with light sounding voice.

"Um… yeah…. You too?" Ino asked even though she probably already knew the answer.

"…Yeah…" Sakura answered quietly.

"Hey, Sakura?" Ino asked after they stood in silence for a few minutes, still not moving from their spots in front of the Hokage's building.

"Yeah, Ino?" Sakura asked. "Well… you know about that time at the Moochi shop?" Ino said cautiously.

"Yeah? What about it?" Sakura said lazily, not looking at Ino.

"Well…if we decide to train with them to become stronger and to unlock the secrets that are missing…" Ino started to say.

"What's your point Blondie?" Sakura said airily. "Just get to the point already!" Sakura told Ino after Ino responded to her with 'Pinkie!'

"Okay, Okay, Sakura! The point is: why don't we teach the other kunoichis to be medical ninjas too? That way, we'll all be medics,  _and_  'regular' ninja!" Ino exclaimed.

"… You know…" Sakura said and turned to look at Ino. "That might just work!" Sakura smiled happily at Ino.

Ino smiled back. "Well then! What are we waiting for? Let's go!" and together, they went into Tsunade's office, asking for medical scrolls that they could borrow to help them practice their medical skills.

(+Wednesday Morning/ Training Grounds/ The Sand Team+)

"Hey, Temari? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, why?" Temari asked.

"Well, your attacks are getting a little more… I don't know how to put it… but doesn't it seem to be a little… I don't know… dull? Weak?"

"What are you trying to say, Kankuro?" Temari demanded. "Are you guys saying that I am weak, and getting weaker?"

"…"

Temari glared at her team and snapped her fan open. "Okay! That's fine with me! I'm going train elsewhere—see you guys later!" Temari yelled, hopped on her fan and glided to some treetops elsewhere, and started to attack the trees using her giant fan.

' _I can't believe it! My teammates/siblings, my mentor/uncle think that I'm getting weaker!'_  Temari attacked another tree. It fell halfway to the ground and stopped. ' _But… are they right?'_  Temari thought as she attacked another tree.

(+Thursday Morning/ Training Grounds/ Team Gai+)

"TenTen-chan, are you sure that you are okay?" Lee asked worriedly.

"I'm FINE, Lee." TenTen said as she got up. "Keep going!" She ordered and rushed towards him. Neji wasn't there because of some Hyuuga family business, so TenTen was sparring with Lee, and she decided that it was nice to spar with other people besides Neji once in a while.

"Okay, let's take a break." Lee told her.

"Okay." TenTen agreed.

A few minutes later, they heard, "LEE! HOW ARE YOU MY YOUTHFUL STUDENT?" It was Gai and Neji.

"I AM VERY YOUTHFUL AND TENTEN IS LEARNING OUR YOUTHFUL WAYS!" Lee shouted. Neji smirked a little but Gai gave Lee a smile.

Neji and Gai finally were in front of Lee and TenTen, and Gai shouted, "WELL THEN LEE! LET US GO OFF ON SOME YOUTHFUL TRAINING IN THE GYMASIAM BEHIND HOKAGE-SAMA'S OFFICE!"

"YES GAI-SENSEI!" Lee shouted and the two jogged off singing/chanting about "YOUTHFULNESS".

Neji smirked. "So you were training with Lee?" TenTen glared at him.

"Yes, because  _you_  were 'busy' with your 'family' business. Why are you asking? Is there something wrong with that?" She asked.

He shrugged and said, "Well it's time to spar. Get up." He ordered. TenTen glared at him before getting up.

A few hours later, TenTen was panting. "Are we done yet?" she huffed.

"No. Keep going unless you are unable to." He told her.

She gave him a death glare before resuming their training. Half an hour later, TenTen said, "Okay, Neji. Can we stop  _now_?"

Neji looked at her. "Are you so weak that you are unable to go on so quickly?"

Now TenTen glared at him. "Give me a break already!" she screamed. "I was sparring with Lee before you and Gai got here, and he is a tough opponent!" TenTen glared at Neji. "I. Am. Going. Home. Now." She told him through gritted teeth, grabbed her stuff and left.

Neji shrugged and said, "Whatever."

'G _rr!'_  TenTen thought furiously. ' _That baka… I have to admit that Lee is formidable opponent… can't he give me a break… I've been sparring with him ever since I was teamed up with him and Lee…'_  TenTen thought angrily as she kicked some rocks out of her way.

At home, she replayed the day's events in her head. When she realized that Neji had suggested that she might be "so weak and is unable to keep training after a short period of time" TenTen grabbed the first sharp object she saw (which happened to be some kitchen knives) and she threw them at the kitchen walls and doors.

(+Saturday at the Moochi Shop+)

"Hello." Temari said curtly to the other four kunoichi. They nodded in reply.

"So lemme guess." Temari said dryly. "Our teammates think that we are weak and only getting weaker, therefore we do not deserve to be and to be called ninja—am I right?" the other four kunoichi nodded in agreement. "Well, we'll show them, won't we now." Temari said dryly.

"But-But how?" Hinata asked nervously. "Hmm… I guess that we can secretly train together… somewhere unknown… Somewhere private… somewhere that we won't be disturbed…." Temari pondered.

TenTen smiled. "We can meet at my house." The other four kunoichi looked at her. "My 'sister and brother' are never home, hence their missions, and I have plenty of space so we can train, so long as no one touches anything…" TenTen explained. "That sounds good…" Temari said.

"Well what are we waiting for then?" Ino asked. "Let's go!" Sakura said enthusiastically. "And beside, me and Sakura have a surprise for you guys!" Ino said with a little twinkle in her eye, and she gestured to the covered baskets that she and Sakura were carrying.

"… Okay then…. Follow me." TenTen said and together, they left the Moochi Shop and went to TenTen's house.

+At TenTen's House+

"Wow…" Temari, Ino, Sakura, and Hinata commented as they looked around TenTen's empty two-story house. TenTen shrugged and lead them to the kitchen.

"Okay Sakura. Ino. Spill. What are the surprises?" TenTen asked, gesturing to the covered baskets that they had brought. Sakura and Ino giggled a little before lifting the cloth covering the baskets.

"So they're scrolls. What's so good about it?" Temari asked.

Sakura and Ino grinned. "These are not just  _any_  scrolls, Temari." Sakura explained. " _These_  are scrolls that medic ninja use to help them train." Ino told them.

Realization dawned on TenTen, Hinata, and Temari's faces. "B-But that means… A-Are we even allowed to do this?" Hinata asked nervously.

Ino shrugged. "I don't know, but I don't care. Anyways, wouldn't it be cool if we all were medical ninja  _and_  'regular' ninja?" Ino asked. "Well... I guess so…" TenTen said doubtfully. "Oh come on!" Sakura said and gave TenTen a friendly punch in the arm. "Hey!" TenTen shouted, and rubbed her arm.

"Lighten up, TenTen!" Ino laughed. "This is supposed to be  _secret_  training anyways, so lets make the best out of it!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Well… Okay then. Let's do it!" Temari shouted. "YEAH!" The five kunoichi cried and that was the start of their secret training sessions.

* * *

**Translations:**

**Gomen nasai: I'm sorry**

**Anyways, please review and tell me what you think! Arigato to Aquarius21294 for the first review!**


	3. I QUIT!

  **Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO!**

It has been 5 months ever since Sakura, Hinata, Ino, TenTen, and Temari went through secret training sessions together. They still (sort of) train with their team (rarely) and they are up-to-date with everything that is going on in Konoha.

Steadily, the five kunoichis are improving (even though their team and family don't know) and now they may be strong enough to defeat their teammates + mentor head on, in a one-on-one or a three-on-one match. Ino, and Sakura have successfully become full-fledged medical ninja, and they in turn have taught Hinata, Temari, and TenTen what they know and learned. Together, the five kunoichis have become five of Konoha and the Suna's most strongest ninja, even if no one really knows it.

(That Morning…)

Hinata appeared at the training grounds, where Team Eight usually trained. There, she saw Akamaru, Kiba, Shino, and Kurenai training.

"Shino-kun, Kiba-kun, Kurenai-sensei!" Hinata shouted as she waved to them.

They turned and Kiba exclaimed in surprise, "Hinata?"

"Yes, Kiba-kun?" Hinata asked as she reached her teammates.

"You're early!" he said in surprise.

"Umm…. Yeah…." Hinata said.

(A Few Moments Later in Training)

"Hinata, are you feeling okay?" Kiba asked.

"Yes, is there a reason why I  _shouldn't_ feel good?" Hinata asked.

"Never mind." Kiba said.

Five minutes later in training…

"Hinata are you okay?!" Kiba cried as he, Kurenai, Akamaru, and Shino ran toward Hinata who had fallen down.

"I'm fine." She said trying to reassure them, but that didn't work.

"Hinata, maybe you should take a break today…" Kurenai said worriedly.

"No, I'm fine." Hinata protested.

"If you say so." She said uncertainly.

Five minutes later….

"Hinata, maybe you shouldn't train right now…" Kurenai said.

"But I'm fine!" Hinata protested. Couldn't they see that she was fine, and not ill or sick? They didn't believe that she was fine, though…

It on like that for the rest of that morning in training. Finally Hinata couldn't take it anymore and screamed, "HOW MANY TIMES MUST I TELL YOU THAT I AM FINE!" Now they had a look of utter disbelief on their faces. Hinata _never_  screamed before, unless they were in trouble.

"Hinata," they said cautiously, "Are you okay?" They asked her, mistakenly thinking that she was mentally injured.

Hinata mistakenly took that as that her team's admittance to thinking her weak and would never become a full-fledged shinobi. (A/N: They actually thought this but didn't say it.)

"FINE, SINCE IF YOU THINK I AM SOOO WEAK, THEN I QUIT BEING IN THIS TEAM!" Hinata yelled and stormed off.

Her team stood there gaping. Kiba was the first to speak. "Hey! Hinata didn't stutter during the whole entire training session!" he exclaimed. (A/N: -' … so clueless…)

(With Sakura that Morning)

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed in surprise. "You're early today!"

"Hi Naruto! Sasuke-kun!" Sakura said brightly as she approached Team 7's training grounds.

"OI! KAKASHI-SENSEI!" Naruto yelled. "HURRY UP ALREADY!" (A/N: I think that 'oi' means hey? someone correct me if I'm wrong… -')

(Moments Later)

Sakura pounded Naruto. "THAT'S IT!" she shouted. Facing Kakashi, Sasuke, and Naruto, Sakura bellowed in their faces, "SINCE YOU ALL CLEARLY THINK THAT I'M SO WEAK, THAT I DON'T DESERVE TO BE A NINJA, I QUIT THE TEAM!" With that, Sakura stormed off angrily. (A/N: Don't ask me what they did. Trust me—you DON'T want to know.)

(With Ino…)

"I QUIT THIS TEAM YOU LAZY-ASS, NO GOOD, EATS TOO MUCH, FAT-SO, FATASS, NOT TO MENTION  _ **USELESS,**_  NINJAS!" Ino screamed at her teammates and mentor. They were in too much of a shock to do or say anything, so they just watched her walk away while gaping.

(With Temari…)

Moments later: "RAWRRRR!" Temari screamed as she hurtled her giant fan at her teammates (siblings) and sensei (uncle). Gaara put up a sand shield and blocked her wind jutsu. Temari smirked—she had an attack that could cut through sand- although she wouldn't show it yet. "Alright, that's it." Temari told them, holding her fan.

Gaara lowered the Sand Shield. "Okay, Temari? Are you feeling okay?" Baki and Kankuro asked cautiously.

Temari smiled at them sweetly. "Of course I'm fine." She told them. They started to sigh in relief, but then Temari continued, "I feel  _so_  fine, here's a letter stating why I've decided to quit." She told them.

"Oh, Okay then." They said relieved, and with out realizing what she just said. A second later, her words sank in.

"WHAT?!" They screamed. "But WHY, Temari?!" Kakuro cried.

"Hmm…" Temari tilted her head. "Let's just say that it was my decision." She told them.

"BUT WHY?" Kankuro yelled.

Temari took a deep breath before yelling, "YOU HEARD ME YOU FREAK- NINJA! I QUIT! 'CAUSE I'M TIRED OF YOU GUYS TELLING ME THAT I'M WEAK-THIS, I'M WEAK-THAT!" she screamed at them. "I'M OUTTA HERE! SCREW YOU!" and with that, Temari ran away, and her team looked at her, too stunned with her speech to go after her.

(With TenTen…)

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

Lee and Gai cried, hugging each other with the animated waterfalls of tears.

TenTen rolled her eyes, ' _They are so weird…_ ' she thought.

"OKAY, LEE! NEJI! TENTEN!" Gai shouted even though they were right in front of him. "LET US BECOME MORE YOUTHFUL AND SEARCH FOR THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH DURING OUR HARD TRAINING!" Gai yelled while flashing his animated 'shiny' smile at them.

"YES GAI-SENSEI!" Lee cried. Then he and Gai started the "Lee!" and "Gai-sensei!" thing again with the animated waterfall of tears.

"…Okay…" TenTen took a deep breath. "SHUT THE FREAK UP ABOUT YOUR YOUTHFULNESS CRAP!" she yelled.

Neji looked at her in amazement, and Lee and Gai stopped their animated tears.

"TENTEN! HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT ABOUT YOUTH?!" Lee and Gai cried.

"…I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR YOUTHFULLNESS CRAP!" TenTen shouted.

Gai and Lee stared at her in shock before Gai said, "TENTEN! HOW CAN YOU DISGRACE YOUTH?!"

"YES, TENTEN! HOW COULD YOU?!" Lee cried.

TenTen took a deep breath, then smiled sweetly. "I'm sorry." She apologized. "Yes, how  _could_  I disgrace the Fountain of Youth. I'm sorry, Lee, Gai-sensei." TenTen told them sweetly.

Lee and Gai then sighed in relief. "In fact, I am so sorry that I… QUIT THIS DAMN TEAM!" TenTen yelled. "WHAT?! TENTEN WHY ARE YOU QUITTING OUR PERFECTLY YOUTHFUL TEAM?!" Lee cried.

TenTen took a deep breath. "Look, I'm sorry, but I CAN'T STAND THE FACT THAT YOU ALL THINK I'M SO FRIGGIN' WEAK—WHICH I AM NOT!" she screamed, backed a few feet away from them, then shouted, "TWIN RISING DRAGONS!"

Neji, Lee, and Gai scrambled to safety behind some trees as some (about 100) summoned weapons were flung at them from every direction. When they came back out, TenTen was nowhere to be seen, and neither were her weapons. (They just poofed away.)

(+At TenTen's House+)

TenTen, Temari, Ino, Hinata, and Sakura calmly drank their tea.

"So lemme get this straight— _you all just quit your teams_?" Anko said in disbelief.

"Yes, they think we are weak—which we are not, may we remind you of our training sessions?" Hinata said airily.

"Well… since you um… sort of know about your past, quit your teams… what are you going to do?" Anko asked nervously.

"The only logical solution." TenTen said airily. Ino, Sakura, Temari, and Hinata nodded.

"Oh? And that would be?" Anko narrowed her eyes. In her head, Anko prayed. ' _Oh please, don't tell me their gonna leave!'_  Anko begged.

"We'll leave." TenTen concluded.

"What? But-!" Anko faltered, sadly. "Well… I guess that it's no use stopping you…"

"It isn't." TenTen told her gently, with a hand on her shoulder.

"When will you be leaving?" Anko asked. "Tonight. At exactly midnight." TenTen told her.

"… Well then. The least I can do is see you off… I'll be somewhere near the gate. Please see me before you leave, okay?" She asked.

"Okay." TenTen smiled.

(+In the Afternoon+)

"H-Hey, Neji?" TenTen asked nervously.

"Hn." The prodigy said.

"What am I to you?" She got another "Hn." for a reply. "Am… Am I only your sparring partner?" TenTen asked quietly.

"Yes." was his reply.

"But… Aren't we… friends?" TenTen asked nervously.

"I have no friends." He said coldly.

"Oh… I see…" TenTen faltered. ' _I knew it.'_  She thought miserably. ' _He doesn't like me. To him, I'm only his sparring partner and ex-teammate. He doesn't care about me. It would be better if I left.'_

(With Sakura…)

"Sasuke-kun, do you… do you hate me?" Sakura asked.

"…" Was his answer.

Sakura tried again. "Am I better off as a medical ninja?" She asked softly.

"…" was his reply.

Sighing in defeat, Sakura walked off, thinking, ' _He hates me. It would be better if I left.'_

(With Hinata...)

"…Father…?"

"Yes, Hinata?"

"Am I… weak?"

"…Yes…"

"Oh, I see…" ' _He thinks I'm weak… everyone thinks I'm weak, they would be better off without me…_ ' Hinata thought sadly.

(-Midnight-)

Anko gave a weak smile when she saw the Five Kunoichis and their bags. "I hope that you've changed your minds?" Anko asked softly, knowing that it was a useless question to ask.

"No, we are still going to go." Ino told her quietly.

"Oh…" was all Anko could get out before she couldn't speak anymore, due to tears leaking out of her eyes. One-by-one the five kunoichis took turns hugging Anko and whispering their good-byes in her ear.

"It was nice knowing you." Sakura told her.

"You've been a great mentor, Anko-sensei." Temari said.

"You're a great ninja." Ino told her.

"We could always count on you, Anko-sensei." Hinata said.

Lastly, TenTen told her, "You've been a great mentor and aunt, Anko-sensei. I'm glad to have known you, and no one could be a better aunt or ninja than you."

As they turned to leave, Anko swallowed her tears and said, "Wait!" They turned, and she said quietly and slowly. "Tell them… Organization: O. S. U. Y." Anko told them. They nodded, but wondered what she meant. "And… TenTen, show them the proof I gave you and… tell them your  _full_  name." TenTen nodded, and then they left, turning their backs on Konoha when they left the gate.

**Well, I hope you like that! I'm still working on Chapter 4. Thank you to all reviewers, and keep reading! Oh! All other Author Notes are going to be on the bottom from now on!**


	4. The Star Village

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter Four: The Star Village**

**Check for A/Ns at the bottom! Arigato to reviewers and readers!**

**The Kunoichis That Didn't Belong**

* * *

Sakura looked at gate. "TenTen," she said uneasily. "Where are we?"

"You'll find out." TenTen said emotionlessly. They stopped and a ninja confronted them.

"Name and Business?" he grunted.

Just then, as TenTen was about to reply, a voice cut through. "TenTen?" the voice asked incredulously. TenTen, Temari, Ino, Hinata, and Sakura turned their heads to see had spoke.

"S-Sumaru?" TenTen asked back.

"TenTen! It's good to see you again!" the boy came forward, and he and TenTen hugged.

"Sumaru! How are you?" TenTen asked, looking at him.

"Fine. But why are you here? Mission?" Sumaru asked.

"… Well, you  _could_ say that, I guess…" TenTen quietly said.

"Sumaru!" the guard said sharply. "Who are they and how do you know them?" he asked suspiciously. But Sumaru just shook his head. "Tane-san, this is TenTen from Konoha. You remember Naruto, Lee, Neji, and TenTen? The ninja of Konoha that helped us defeat Akahoshi, remember?" Sumaru asked.

"Huh? Oh… I see… Well then. Welcome to the village. Just tell Sumaru what you need, okay?" TenTen nodded, and the six of them went inside through the gate into the Hidden Village of the Stars.

(+At Sumaru's House+)

"So. TenTen. What brings you and your comrades here?" Sumaru asked.

TenTen replied, "We need to speak with the Hoshikage, Sumaru." while calmly sipping her tea. Sakura, Ino, Temari and Hinata nodded in agreement.

"Hmm… What for?"

"Business."

"Hmm… Hey TenTen?"

"Yeah?"

"Why is a Sand Ninja here?" Sumaru inquired, and nodded to Temari.

"She is one of Konoha's allies." TenTen explained.

"The Sand Shinobi are allies of Konoha. And besides, she is one of my friends."

"Oh, okay then." Sumaru sipped some more of his tea.

"Sumaru?"

"Yes, TenTen?"

"May I please speak to the Hoshikage now?"

"Why?" "It's an important thing…"

"Um, okay then." Sumaru disappeared and returned a few minutes later with the Hoshikage.

"We'll need some privacy please." TenTen nodded towards Sumaru who nodded, and disappeared to a different house. "Please go with him." TenTen told Sakura, Ino, Hinata, and Temari. They looked uncertain, but nodded and headed out.

"Well, TenTen of the Hidden Leaf Village. What brings you and your comrades here to the Hidden Star Village? We did not request a mission or anything." TenTen took a deep breath.

"Actually, Hoshikage-sama. We are here about," TenTen lowered her voice. "Organization: O. S. U. Y." she told him.

His eyes widened slightly. "And what business would you, your comrades, and Konoha have with Organization O. S. U. Y.?" he asked.

TenTen took a deep breath then pulled out a sword made entirely out of crystal, ruby, sapphire, emerald, topaz, and onyx. He gasped slightly. TenTen held the sword in front of her face. She spoke slowly, and quietly. "I am: FaLiTianChen **(1)**  TenTen." She told him.

He gasped and his eyes widened. "I see," he muttered. "Well then. Please follow me." he said and walked out of Sumaru's house.

TenTen put away her sword and she followed him out. Quietly, she gestured to her friends who had come out of Mizura's home as soon as they heard Sumaru's door open and shut. The Hoshikage ordered Sumaru to guard the front of another house. Sumaru did. The Hoshikage then went inside, and the kunoichis followed the Hoshikage. They went to a room that led them underground and through several passageways. He opened the last door and went inside. TenTen, Hinata, Sakura, Ino, and Temari followed suit.

A woman sat at the end of the table. "What is it this time, Hoshikage-sama?" the woman asked sternly.

The Hoshikage replied, "Organization: O.S.U.Y." he said quietly. The woman's eyes widened a bit. "So what about it?" she asked, regaining her composure.

"They," the Hoshikage nodded his head toward the group. "I think… wish to join it…" he said quietly.

The woman nodded. "But Hoshikage-sama." The woman said. "Surely you do not think that we will take on people who are mysterious as they are unworthy of the organization, now do you?" the woman laughed.

The Hoshikage looked nervous, but didn't show it. "But Raika. I can assure you that she," the Hoshikage nodded his head towards TenTen. "-is most certainly worthy."

Raika, the woman, frowned. "I can tell that the Hyuuga girl is worthy enough." She said at last. "But how can you be so sure that  _they,_ " she jabbed her chin towards Ino, Sakura, Temari, and TenTen. "-are also worthy?" she asked.

"You'll see, Raika. You'll see." And with that, the Hoshikage left the room and closed the door behind him.

Raika sighed. "Okay, Hoshikage-sama seems to think that you are worthy." She closed her eyes and turned her back to them. Suddenly, a door appeared in front of her and she walked into the dark passageway. "Come on." She ordered and went ahead.

"… Byakugan!" Hinata said as she activated her Byakugan. "There are no traps." Hinata told them. So, they all held hands and walked into the tunnel/passageway.

(-In a Brightly Lit Room With No Windows-)

The kunoichis stared at the brightly lit room that the tunnel had led them to. With a soft 'thud' sound behind them, the tunnel door closed and melted away into the wall as if it were never there in the first place.

"Now." A person spoke, and the kunoichis turned around and saw Raika and another woman sitting on the table. "Please. As Raika here," she nodded to Raika. "-has already told me, what do think that you can do so that you are worthy enough for the organization? And I already assume you know what the organization is and does?" the woman looked at the kunoichis and they nodded. "Oh, and by the way, I am known and addressed as Rayku."

Sakura spoke first. "My name is Haruno Sakura, and I am a medic." Raiku nodded.

Ino stepped up after and said, "My name is Yamanaka Ino, and I am also a medical ninja." Rayku nodded.

Temari stepped up next. "I am Sabaku no Temari, the older sister of the Kazekage, Sabaku no Gaara." she informed them. Rayku nodded.

Hinata stepped up. "I am Hyuuga Hinata, and I … _was_ … the heiress of the Hyuuga Clan. I also have the Byakugan." she stated. Rayku nodded again. "And what can  _you_  do?" she asked TenTen when she had not stepped forward.

TenTen then stepped forward, and the other kunoichis stepped back.

TenTen pulled out the sword that she had showed the Hoshikage earlier. Raika and Rayku gasped as they saw the sword.

Apparently, they recognized it. "H-how did you get that?" Rayku whispered, still in shock.

Raika added, "Who  _are_  you?"

TenTen held the sword in front of her face. "I am FaLiTianChen TenTen." She informed them quietly and with no expression on her face.

Raika and Rayku gasped. "H-how can this be?" Rayku asked, apparently still in shock.

"Y-you're still alive?" Raika asked, trembling, either from happiness, disbelief, or both.

TenTen raised her eyebrow. "Pardon?"

Raika now stood up. " _I_ ," she said finally. "-am Chen Raika, sister of Chen Sayuri." Raika told her.

"Sayuri, huh?" TenTen traced her finger along the lines of the sword made entirely out of crystal, ruby, sapphire, emerald, topaz, and onyx. "So. Was that my mother's name?" she asked coldly.

Raika nodded. "Yes, if you are truly my sister's daughter." "Then I suppose I am." TenTen said emotionlessly.

With Byakugan, Hinata thought that she could sense resentment in TenTen. Apparently, if Hinata was right, TenTen hated her mother and wanted nothing to do with her.

"Well?" TenTen asked. "Have we proven our worth?" They nodded, and TenTen put away her sword.

"However." Rayku began. "If your Village is looking for you, then we shall send some of you away to a different place in the organization. Of course, when we have decided that you have excelled your training, completed a few missions, you may then be able to work together with each other in every mission that we give you. Understand?" The kunoichis nodded in understanding and agreement.

"Ok then." Rayku said. "Haruno Sakura. You will be trained in The Hidden Grass Village in the Grass Country." Sakura nodded.

"Yamanaka Ino." She continued. "You will be trained in The Hidden Rain Village in the Rain Country." Ino nodded.

"Sabaku no Temari. You will be trained in The Hidden Snow Village in the Snow Country." Temari nodded.

"Hyuuga Hinata. You will be trained in The Hidden Waterfall Village in the Waterfall Country." Hinata nodded.

Rayku paused. "And you, FaLiTianChen TenTen, will be trained here, in The Hidden Star Village in the Bear Country, but in a different area." She looked at the kunoichis.

"I will have escorts that are also part of the organization to guide you over to where you will be training." The five kunoichis nodded and then started to say good-bye to their friends.

The kunoichis began their training as soon as they set foot into their assigned country and were given temporary mentors to help them in their training.

* * *

**(1):** FaLiTianChen- FaLiTian is TenTen's dad's name, and Chen is her mother's. TenTen's last name actually doesn't have Chen in it, but she included it incase they knew her mother. And they did. Please don't get confused if I don't add Chen to her last name, kay? Also I made her last name up, just so you know.

Hey, thanks to all reviewers and readers- your support makes me very happy!

Anyways, I have a question. Is it possible to edit already-published-chapters? If so, then please let me know! Oh, and I'm working on Ch.5. I hope you guys don't mind if it's a bit short though... Anyways, thanks for reading! See ya next time! .

 


	5. Back in Konoha

 (Meanwhile…Back in Konoha…)

At first, their disappearance meant nothing. But when Hanabi Hyuuga declared that her sister had been missing for a whole entire week, and Hiashi confirmed it, Konoha went crazy. Even with Byakugan, the Sharigan, and many more talents, they could not find anything, and their search was in vain. The missing kunoichis' teammates had looked for them in vain, only using five hours every day, looking for their missing teammate. At last, Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage of Konoha, and Sabaku no Gaara, the Kazekage of the Suna, had, but no choice, except to finally declare the missing kunoichis as Missing-Nins.

After they were declared Missing-Nins, their cellmates and mentors started to worry a bit more about them, and they spent a little more time looking for them. Hanabi Hyuuga was then declared as the Hyuuga Clan's successor and heiress due to Hinata's, the first heiress, absence and assumed betrayal to Konoha.

Hanabi started being more annoying than usually to everyone. True enough, though Hanabi was never annoying in public, she did indeed, start to act annoying in public. It all ranged from sometimes embarrassing Neji in front of people, to sometimes embarrassing Neji's friends. Though people were not aware of her feelings, and why she was suddenly acting this way, her sister would know from a single glance at Hanabi's eyes. And what Hinata would see would be first sadness, and loneliness, then pride, pain, and finally, worry. These would be all of the emotions that Hinata would see in her sister's eyes if she were here now.

(-At Ichiraku's Ramen Bar-)

"— and then he said that"

"Ne, Naruto, isn't it a little too early to start yapping?" Kiba asked tiredly.

"But Kiba, its only 7 am!" Naruto asked, sounding shocked. "Whaddya mean it's too early?!"

"Ne, so troublesome." Shikamaru said lazily.

"WILL YOU GUYS QUIT IT ALREADY?!" Hanabi roared at them. "YOU'RE ALL BLATHERING  _IDIOTS_!" she screamed in their ears.

"Eep!" squeaked Naruto.

"Sheesh, Hanabi!" Shikamaru said. "You don't have to be so loud." He sighed. "Troublesome."

Hanabi glared at him and shouted, "Will you quit saying the word "troublesome" already?!" she screeched. Everyone in the shop covered their ears and looked at them.

Ayame rushed over. "Hanabi-san!" she said sounding shocked. "Please do not screech in the shop!"

Hanabi glared at Ayame as she crossed her arms. Then she sighed and said, "Sorry, Ayame-san."

Ayame sighed in relief. "That's okay, Hanabi-chan." She said with a smile.

"Hey squirts! What's up?" Anko said as she came over into the bar. Strangely, she was acting perkier than usual, and unusually happier, ever since the five Kunoichis were discovered missing. Little did they know, but like Hanabi, that was her own way of covering herself and the secret entrusted to her.


	6. 2 Years Later

  **The Kunoichis That Didn't Belong ch.6**

**Okay, here's chappie 6, so read and review! Ja ne!**

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2 years later

"ATTENTION, ATTENTION! NARUTO, SASUKE, NEJI, LEE, GAI, KURENAI, SHINO, KIBA, KANKURO, GAARA, KAKASHI, ASUMA, CHOUJI, SAI, AND SHIKAMARU! PLEASE REPORT TO TSUNADE-SAMA'S OFFICE **IMMEDIATELY!** "

-Clink!-

The intercom's message ended and the wanted shinobis rushed to Tsunade's office just as they heard her chair collide with the window to get their attention.

"PICK THAT UP!" Tsunade roared, and they did so.

"Ne, Tsunade-baa-san, what is it?" Naruto whined, which earned him BONK! from Tsunade hitting on the head.

"Shut up! I have a mission for you all." She continued as if Naruto had never interrupted her.

"What is it?" Kiba asked.

"Shut up! I'm getting to that!" Tsunade barked. "Anyways, as I was saying, you have a mission. We have been informed that the Feudal Lord of The Land of Honey has been targeted. Your mission is to protect him."

"How do you know that, Tsunade-baa-san?" Naruto asked stupidly.

Tsunade veined. (A/N: You know the black  **X**  thing that shows that they're angry? I dunno what to call it.) "Actually, Naruto," Tsunade said through gritted teeth. "It seems that the Feudal Lord of the Land of Honey was sent a note that said, 'Be prepared for your doom.'" Tsunade told them.

"That seems stupid. Why would they do that?" Naruto asked.

Tsunade had enough, and she punched Naruto. "BAKA!" she roared. "I DON'T KNOW WHO SENT IT, BUT IT'S YOUR MISSION TO FIND OUT WHO SENT IT AND TO MAKE SURE THAT HE DOESN'T DIE!" Tsunade yelled. "Now GO!" she barked.

"HAI! TSUNADE-SAMA!" they yelled and left.

(+In the Star Village+)

"Excellent work as usual TenTen." Raika said lightly.

"Hai, Raika-sama." TenTen replied.

"Now, come here, child." Raika ordered, and TenTen stepped inside the building.

Once inside, she gasped. "Sakura? Ino? Temari? Hinata? What are you guys doing here?" she exclaimed. Although they had seen each other a couple of times during some  _missions_ , they hadn't actually spent a lot of time together.

Ino and Sakura shrugged. "Dunno." Ino said.

"I was brought here told that I was to go on a special mission or something." Sakura said as if it was no big deal.

"Same here." Temari said.

"Me too." Hinata agreed.

"Um, Rayku-sama? Raika-sama? Can you please explain?" TenTen said, crossing her arms and looking at the two.

"Ahem." Rayku said, coughing lightly. "You five are doing great individually, and with others. We have come to the decision to let you five work together if you pass this. . .  _mission_." Rayku explained.

"And the mission is?" TenTen asked with a frown.

"To assassinate the Feudal Lord of The Land of Honey." Raika told them seriously.

"This will be the first mission that you five will work together by yourselves." Rayku said sternly.

"If you pass, then we will allow you five to continue working together until you don't want to." Raika said.

Ino and Sakura gasped and they thought about working together with the people who came with them to the organization.

Temari was grinning. "So," she said, slapping her small fan on her hand. "Do we have to sign up?" she asked.

"Wait a minute." Raika said. "Before you say anything, you must understand that we have recently received news that the ninja of the Sand and Leaf will be protecting the Feudal Lord. Think carefully before you decide." Raika warned.

The five fell into silence, deep in thought. No one moved. Then:

"I'll do it."

Everyone stared at Hinata.

"Are you sure?" Rayku asked.

She nodded. "I can't just stay in hiding from them forever, can I?" she asked. "And besides. I don't stutter anymore, and they know me only as the one who stutters a lot, so it shouldn't be that easy for them to recognize me, right?" she asked.

". . ."

Finally, Temari spoke. "Hinata's right." She told them. "So I too accept this mission."

Ino and Sakura exchanged glances. "Well, I guess I'm in too then." Ino said cheerfully.

"Me too." Sakura agreed.

They looked at TenTen and waited for her response.

She sighed. "Well, I guess I'm in too, then." She said. "But one more thing."

"Yeah?"

"And just  _how_  did the Feudal Lord find out that he was gonna die?" she asked with a frown.

". . . Um… we sent him a death threat?" Rayku and Raika squeaked.

". . . You sent him a  _WHAT?!_ " they screamed.

* * *

  **So? Is this better? Anyways, as I said 'wrote' before, I made up TenTen's last name and couples are still unknown, but if there are any, then it'll most likely be NaruHina, NejiTen, SasuSaku. It might be ShikaTema, ShikaIno, or SaiIno. Vote in your reviews!**


	7. In the Land of the Honey

  **The Kunoichis That Didn't Belong Ch.7**

**Disclaimer: (How many times must I say (write) this?) I DON'T OWN NARUTO!**

**(But I wish I did!)**

* * *

"Ugh." Blossom shook her head. "I can't  _believe_  that they actually  _did_  that!"

"I  _know_!" Rose chimed in, swishing her long blond hair from side to side.

"Guys, this is no time to be arguing about this- they've  _already_ explained that." Lily said crossly as they all walked down the path to the Land of Honey.

"Yeah, but Hin-" Rose began, but was cut off.

"I told you not to call me that!" Lily said crossly. "My name is  _Lily_ , just as you are  _Rose_."

"Hin- I mean  _Lily,_  is right, guys." Clover said sighing.

A twin bun-haired girl glared at all of them. "I just don't see why we all had to have  _flower_  names!" she said angrily. "I mean- come on! They might even recognize you two!" she declared as she pointed at the pink-haired Blossom and the blond Rose.

Clover shrugged, her four, short-tailed blonde hair moving slightly. "Don't blame us- it was  _Blossom_ 's choice in all of this." She told Wisteria.

"But  _seriously_ \- why  _flowers?_ " Wisteria asked.

"Hey- what's wrong with flowers?" Rose countered.

" _Nothing._  But why do we all have to get  _flowers_  for names?" Wisteria asked crossly.

"Told you already- it was  _Blossom_ 's choice." Clover said with another shrug.

"Guys, we're almost there, stop arguing already." The blue-haired, blue-eyed girl called Lily, said crossly.

"K, k,  _Lily_." Wisteria said as she rolled her eyes.

(+In the Land of Honey+)

"Man, am I beat!" Naruto said yawning loudly as he stretched. Their team had just gotten to the Land of Honey this morning after 4 days, and Naruto was already tired, and anxious for ramen.

Shikamaru sighed. "Jeez, Naruto! We just got here and you're already tired?"

Naruto nodded. "Yep!"

Shikamaru sighed again. "Troublesome."

"Just stop complaining already,  _dobe._ " Sasuke said, glaring at Naruto.

"Shut up! Sasuke- _teme!_ " Naruto yelled angrily.

"Come on you guys—yelling is pointless right now!" Sai said, trying to break up the fight.

Neji glared at them all. "Sai's right. We should all behave—we're on a  _mission_  right now, in case you have all forgotten?" He raised his eyebrow.

"Neji's right." Kiba said suddenly. "And besides, once this mission is over, we might be able to have some fun from the festival!" he said cheering.

"Yah!" Chouji cried happily.

"ALL RIGHT!" Naruto yelled, pumping his fist into the air.

"Jeez, so loud." Shikamaru said, rubbing the back of his neck tiredly. "Troublesome."

"Okay, so let's go over the plan." Blossom suggested.

Rose rolled her eyes. " _Again?!"_  she asked in disbelief.

"Yes, Rose.  _Again_." Blossom said, glaring at her and Rose glared back.

Wisteria sighed as she gently tugged on her Sailor-Moon-styled-pigtails. The long-portion of her hair had lavender-colored ribbons attaching it to the buns of the tall, brown-haired girl.

"Jeez, can't you two ever stop fighting? It's bound to attract unwanted attention. AND YOU!" she said, turning around and glaring at Lily and Clover, who were innocently poking her pigtails. "STOP POKING MY DAMN PIGTAILS!" she screamed in frustration.

"B-But we can't help it!" Lily sobbed, smiling. "We just keep wondering how you manage to make it look so real!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah!" Clover agreed, grinning.

Wisteria glared at them again, and Blossom and Rose fell silent to watch.

"Well, if you guys keep poking or pulling them, they'll—HEY!" she screamed as Clover yanked her pigtail off, leaving the ribbon on the floor of the path, and Wisteria with a one-bun-one-pigtail-hairstyle.

"Ha-ha!" Clover yelled, laughing.

"Hey! Give that back!" Wisteria yelled annoyed.

"Ne, but that's no fun!" Clover cried while laughing, and putting the fake-pigtail out of Wisteria's grasp as Wisteria reached for it.

"CLOVER!" Wisteria yelled. Then, out of frustration, Wisteria yanked her other fake-pigtail, and in her grasp, spikes stood out of the fake-pigtail that was in her hand. Wisteria started waving it around the way a cowgirl would wave a rope into the air, ready to lasso in an animal.

"HI-YAH!" Wisteria yelled and tossed her fake-pigtail at Clover while still holding it in her hand. Spikes shot out of the fake-pigtail, joined together, and they formed a tight, brown-ish kind of rope around Clover. One spike came into contact with the fake-pigtail she had in her hand and then the spike and the fake-pigtail vanished within a small poof-cloud, and a small  _poof!_  noise could be heard among them.

Clover squirmed in the tight rope that she could not break free of. "WISTERIA!" she cried in a high-pitchy-girly-girlish-kind-of-voice.

"Ha!" the brown-bun-haired girl said. "And that's what you deserve!"

"Get me down from here!" Clover said in a whiny voice.

"Never!" Wisteria cried in an-evilish-cacklely-kind-of-voice. "Mawahahahahaha!" she cackled evilly.

Lily sighed. "Come on, Wisteria. Let her go. We have a  _mission_  to attend to, in case you've all forgotten?" she raised her eyebrow. (Wow! Talk about Hyuuga! First Neji, now Hinata? Oh, and by the way, they're doing this about the same time, just so you know. )

Wisteria sighed. "Oh, all right,  _Lily._  But it  _was_  her fault!" she snapped her fingers and the rope poofed. Another poof sounded, and Wisteria had her Sailor-Moon-styled-hair back tied with ribbons.

Clover rolled her eyes. "Hmph. Whatever!" she said impatiently. "Let's go!" she shouted and then charged for the gates of the Land of Honey.

(+At the Gate Entrance to the Land of Honey+)

"Okay,  _WE'RE HERE!"_  Blossom shouted in a high-pitched-girly-singsong voice as she threw her arms into the air "excitedly". Once they got past the gates and inside, Blossom whispered to the rest of the girls, "Okay, let's do this, girls!"

"Yah!" they cheered together, and innocent bystanders and tourists and passerbys thought that the festival was their very first and they shrugged it off.

* * *

**Well, I hoped that you enjoyed this chapter, and I seriously apoligize for updating so late.**

**Anyways R &R, and tell me what you like ! Oh, and thanx for those who reviewed!**

**Sorry if this chapter seems so short.**

**Arigato to all of you!**

**P.S.: I probably can't update all of the time because of summer school or something... so yeah..**


	8. Festival part one

  **Naruto: Yeah! Chapter Eight is finally here, with Chapter Nine coming right up! BELIEVE IT!**

" **DYNAMIC ENTRY!" -BOOM!- Gai and Lee appear, complete with a sunset, thumbs up, smile, and most important of all…. YOUTH!**

**Lee: YES! Naruto-kun is correct! Thank you for reading Chapter Eight, and coming soon, Chapter Nine of The Kunoichis That Didn't Belong! Flashes a smile with a ping**

**Gai: YES! My precious pupil Lee is correct! Please read the long-awaited chapter, and be sure to review!**

**Naruto, Gai, and Lee together: THANKS TO ALL YOU READERS! PLEASE BE SURE TO READ AND REVIEW THIS CHAPTER!**

**All three disappear with a poof**

A/N: Well! You heard it here folks! Read and Review, like Naruto, Lee, and Gai says!

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**The Kunoichis That Didn't Belong Ch. 8**

**Disclaimer: (How many times must I say (write) this?) I DON'T OWN NARUTO!**

**(But I wish I did!)**

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Naruto yawned and he looked around, already bored. The rest of the guys were talking about random things, and some of them had already wandered off.

"Mm? Sakura-chan?" Naruto muttered, as he spotted a pink-haired girl over near the entrance gate, with a blond girl next to her. "Eh?" Sasuke looked in the direction Naruto was staring at; having heard Naruto's little comment. "Oh, no. It's nothing." Naruto said nervously, and went back to talking with some of the other guys.

"Hmm…" Sasuke wasn't so sure. He stared at the girl for a second, sure that there was  _something_  that was  _very_ familiar about her. What it was, he just couldn't place. Just as he was about to turn away, she suddenly turned her head, and they had eye contact. Their eyes widened simultaneously, and she broke contact first. "No." she whispered, shock still evident in her eyes.

Sasuke stared after her. He was sure. It was  _her._   _'But how? How do I know?'_  he wondered to himself.  _'And why? Why would she_ _ **be**_ _here?'_

Sakura covered her mouth, still in shock. "Oh, god." She breathed. "Why?" She recalled the way their eyes had met, how the single  _second_  their eyes had made contact, she  _knew_  that  _he_  knew. "Oh, why?"

* * *

Ino looked at Sakura worriedly. Sakura was stiff, and she had seemed to be in shock. "Um, Saki? Did something happen?" Ino smiled at her best friend whom she had missed during the last two years. "What's wrong? Do you want a popsicle?" Ino held out the offered treat to Sakura.

But Sakura shook her head. "No. No thank you, Rose-chan." She said with a smiling, her words instantly reminding Ino of their guise. "Oh yeah…." Ino scratched the back of her head. "Mm…" Ino looked at the sky. "Wonder when Tema-chan is done yet." "Yeah."

* * *

Temari looked around her. "Hina-chan, do you see the-you-know-what yet? Any… um… gropers?" she whispered into her headpiece. "A-Ano?" Hinata whispered back, shocked at her friend's choice of words. "Um, I mean, no, _Clover-_ san. And it is Wisteria-san's job. Oh, and I have not yet any sign of ….g-gropers…" Hinata winced slightly as she said that word.

"Oh! Um, yes. Thank you, Lily-chan." Temari said, a bit awkwardly as she remembered their codes and mission.

* * *

Hinata looked around her swiftly. So far, she had not yet seen any guards in the festival grounds, except for those guarding important buildings, people, and the borders. "Ooo…" Hinata stared at a very pretty and cute silver hairpin in the shape of a butterfly.

"Would you like that, miss?" a loud voice beside her asked.

"Eh?" Hinata looked at Naruto with a mixture of shock, confusion, and surprise.

"Hi! I'm Uzumaki Naruto!" He grinned at her, and Hinata's heart pounded against her chest wildly.

"Um, I-I-"

"I can get it for you, if you want it." Naruto said with a grin.

"N-No! I-I couldn't, you shouldn't, I-" Hinata, for some reason, was turning red, and getting very flustered.

"Okay, then tell me your name!" he said cheerfully.

"Eh? Um, I mean, Lily. My name is Lily." Hinata said, trying to calm herself down.

"Mmm…okay. Wait a moment, will ya?"

"Wha-"

"Hey! Mister! How much for that?" Naruto pointed to the pin.

"80 yen."

"I'll take it!" he exclaimed, bought it, then gave it to Hinata.

"Eh? B-But Uzumaki-san, I couldn't possibly-" Hinata was interrupted by Naruto saying, "Aw, come on, Hina—oops, I mean Lily-chan!" with a smile.

Hinata's heart almost stopped beating. "O-okay." Hinata said after regaining her composure. "Thank you, Uzumaki-san." She said politely.

"You're welcome." Naruto said with a grin. "And call me Naruto!"

"But, I-"

"Call me Naruto!" he repeated.

"Okay, Naruto-k, I mean, Naruto-san." Hinata bowed.

"Hey, Lily? You wanna check out the festival with me?"

Hinata blushed. "Okay."

* * *

TenTen looked around her, searching for the feudal lord.  _'Damn it! Where the hell is he?'_  she thought frustrated. She continued to walk down the street into the crowd, turning her head here and there, searching for the feudal lord that they were assigned to assassinate. Suddenly, she bumped into someone. And who wasn't that someone other than…. THE  _Hyuuga Neji?_  Well, that was exactly who he was, and TenTen made the mistake of looking up into those deep, white eyes that she knew  _so_  well, and missed,  _so_  much, even if she never admitted such. "I-I'm sorry." She said hastily, and backed away, disappearing into the crowd.  _'Damn it! I blew it. He_ _ **knows**_ _. He would be an idiot_ _ **not**_ _to know. Even_ _ **if**_ _I was gone all those years, he_ _ **still**_ _would've known. Damn. Shit. What have I done?'_  TenTen thought, as she pushed past many people in the street, heading towards the opposite side of the town's festival, leaving behind a shocked and confused Hyuuga.

* * *

Neji stared after the strange-yet-oh-so-familiar girl who had just bumped into him, then left abruptly. But,  _NOT_  before she made the mistake of looking into his eyes, and him into hers. And  _that_ was when he knew.  _Instantly. 'TenTen.'_

* * *

As Hinata walked alongside Naruto, thousands of questions filled her mind. But she held it all in, and waited patiently for Naruto to explain himself. There just  _had_ to be a reason, she just  _knew_  it. After playing a few festival games, Naruto began to speak. "Hey, Lily-chan?" "Yea?" "I'm sorry." "For what?" "…For calling you a… different name." Naruto put his hands behind his head, and stared up at the sky; and Hinata at him.

"It's just that… well, you remind me so much of her. Hinata-chan, I mean." Hinata gave a little gasp, but Naruto made no signs of having heard it. "You know," Naruto paused. "Kiba… He really missed her. He later told me that he, Shino, and Kurenai-sensei never had any intention to make her feel weak…. It was just some weird  _thing_  that they were going through, ya know? And, and, when Sakura-chan left, Sasuke-teme went all emo-ish; well, more than he usually is; Lee was screaming in his sleep, and Kakashi-sensei even stopped reading his perverted book for about two-to-three weeks. I don't remember how much. Kiba was really depressed, and he helped Hanabi—that's Hinata's sister—look for Hinata every where. Hiashi—that's Hinata and Hanabi's dad—also help them look sometimes, when he wasn't busy with meetings or anything. They're a really dedicated and loyal family."

Hinata gasped; shocked by the information that Naruto was telling her. Naruto continued to talk. (Btw, they're still walking, just so you know.)

"Gaara and Kankuro were devastated when Temari left. They just wouldn't stop searching for her, and Gaara even moved to Konoha temporarily with Kankuro so that they could look for any possible clues that were possibly left behind. Baki temporarily took over Gaara's duties, and Matsuri is overseeing that, to make sure that Baki's decisions are wise."

Naruto looked at Hinata. "Hey, Lily? Do you… I don't know…but, do you think that," he paused, and glanced back at the sky. "If, we find them, and talk to them…" he looked at her. "…do you think that they'll consider coming back?" he asked, with such hopefulness in his eyes that Hinata could not bring herself to say something awful. "I-I'm sure that if you talk to them, and explain, they will listen to your reasons." She said, replying as truthfully as she could, for herself and all of the girls.  _'I cannot promise you anything, Naruto-kun, but I assure you that we shall listen to what you have to say.'_  Hinata thought, promisingly.

Naruto grinned at her. "Thanks, Lily-chan!" Hinata smiled back at Naruto, and they continued to walk. "Hey, Lily? Are you going to stay over?" he asked, pointing to the pink rays of sunset. She gasped. "So much time has gone by…. Oh! Um, yes, I believe I shall be staying for the night…." "Cool!"

* * *

They continued to walk, and then spotted a boy in a gray jacket with a dog in his lap sitting on a bench. "Oh! Hey- that's Kiba!" Naruto said excitedly, then ran up to said boy, yelling Kiba's name loudly. Hinata trailed after Naruto shyly.

Kiba turned his head towards Naruto. "Hey, Naruto." Kiba said, and Akamaru yipped once. "Kiba! What are you doing?" Naruto asked. Kiba rolled his eyes. "What do you think I'm doing, you dope? Sitting, obviously. Hey, who's your friend?" Hinata stood next to Naruto. "Eh? Oh, that's Lily-chan!" he said with a grin. But Kiba seemed not to hear him. Even Akamaru was strangely quiet.

" _H-Hinata?"_

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Well, that's Chapter 8! Sorry for the long wait! Gomen, Gomen. I shall try to type up chapter nine as soon as possible! And thanks to all reviewers!

Please Review! Arigato!


	9. Festival part one end

**The Kunoichis That Didn't Belong Ch. 9**

**Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN NARUTO!**

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Recap: " _Hinata?_ "

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"N-Nani?" Hinata stuttered in shock.

"No, no, Kiba." Naruto said, shaking his head.

"B-But – Naruto, she-, I-, you-" Kiba stuttered in shock.

"Yea, that's what I thought too—but this is Lily." Naruto explained.

"Arr. . . " Akamaru barked. "Lily" who had calmed down, was afraid that Akamaru would recognize her scent. But apparently, he didn't say anything, so she calmed down.

"Oh! . . . Well . . . I'm sorry Lily. I thought you were someone else." Kiba said apologetically.

"Oh! Um . . . It's okay." Hinata said, relieved that she wasn't found out.

"So . . . um, are you staying for the rest of the festival?" Kiba asked.

"Yes, I am." Hinata said, no longer stuttering.

"Oh . . . Where are you staying at?"

"Um . . . I'm not exactly sure . . ."

_(-Silence for about 3 seconds-)_

"Well . . . It's getting late. . . " Hinata said.

It was dark, and stars were starting to come out.

"Okay, bye then—see you tomorrow!" Hinata said, and ran off, running past Kiba and Akamaru. Akamaru suddenly started to bark, but "Lily" was already half-way to the distance.

* * *

(+Hotel Drucellean, room #1505+)

TenTen paced the floor of the room, back and forth. "Where is she?" she wondered impatiently.

"Ah, calm down." Sakura said from the bed. "She's probably on her way right now."

"But did anyone  _tell_  her which . . . place we're at?" TenTen demanded.

". . . Well  _I_  didn't—her com wasn't on." Temari announced.

"I told forehead here to do it." Ino said, hands up. "Don't look at me."

". . . But . . . I didn't . . ." Sakura looked troubled.

Suddenly, said subject burst into the room. "Gomenasai, gomenasai!" she said, out of breath.

"Ah, Hina-chan! It's okay!" Sakura said cheerfully.

Temari nodded in agreement as Ino got up and closed the door.

"So? Where were you?"

"Well, I . . ."

* * *

  
(+Hotel Drucellean, room #2254+)

"Come on, where is that dobe!" Sasuke said, walking back and forth.

"Calm down, Sasuke. The mission isn't over yet. Be patient." Shikamaru said wisely.

"Tch." He said, then flopped down on the bed, next to Neji.

' _I can't possibly tell_ _ **any**_ _of them how I saw_ _ **her**_ _. . . If it is her, anyways.'_  Sasuke thought darkly, narrowing his eyes.

They waited for about five more minutes before the door opened, and Naruto, Kiba, and Akamaru entered.

"About time." Gaara muttered.

"Eh, sorry we're late guys, but we had to persuade the lady in the front to let Akamaru inside and all. . ." Naruto said, scratching the back of his head.

Sasuke twitched. "Whatever, dobe. Close the door already."

Naruto "hmphed", but closed the door anyways.

"Well, here's the plan. According to the information gathered, I've put together that the assassination of the Feudal Lord shall be tomorrow at the parade." Shikamaru said, as everyone gathered close to him to hear the plan.

"Because the assassination will likely happen, we must prepare for actual attack. Tomorrow, early morning, Chouji, Shino, and Kiba will go to the gate guards and persuade them to close the gates. Lee and Naruto, you two will be scouting out the perimeter. Gaara and Kankuro, you guys will go to the castle of the Feudal Lord and look around for possible assassination items or places. Neji and Sasuke, your task is to protect the Feudal Lord." Shikamaru said.

"Hey! What about you, Shikamaru?" Naruto said.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and sighed. "I was getting there, Naruto. While all of you do this, I will be finishing the map I made of the village."

"Oh!" Naruto nodded, and Shikamaru sighed again. "I'm not done, Naruto. Stop interrupting me."

"Should the attempt on the Feudal Lord's life be successful, Gaara, Shino, and Kankuro, will interrogate the remaining people at the assassination scene. Naruto, Kiba, Chouji, and Lee, your job will be to chase after the assassins over to the main gate, where I, Neji, and Sasuke will be waiting as an ambush attempt. As soon as Gaara, Shino, and Kankuro finish their interrogations, they will join us as quickly as possible. This is Plan B. Everyone understand?" Shikamaru asked, and everyone nodded.

"Good. Then everyone get a good night's sleep—we have to get up early tomorrow."

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**Okay people. That was chapter nine. And they did NOT find out it was her. So there. Chapter 10 WILL come, don't worry about it. In the mean time, please review. Ja ne!**


	10. Festival part two Guys

**The Kunoichis That Didn't Belong Ch. 10**

**Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN NARUTO!**  

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Recap:  _"Well, here's the plan. According to the information gathered, I've put together that the assassination of the Feudal Lord shall be tomorrow at the parade."_

" _Because the assassination will likely happen, we must prepare for actual attack. Tomorrow, early morning, Chouji, Shino, and Kiba will go to the gate guards and persuade them to close the gates. Lee and Naruto, you two will be scouting out the perimeter. Gaara and Kankuro, you guys will go to the castle of the Feudal Lord and look around for possible assassination items or places. Neji and Sasuke, your task is to protect the Feudal Lord." Shikamaru said._

" _Should the attempt on the Feudal Lord's life be successful, Gaara, Shino, and Kankuro, will interrogate the remaining people at the assassination scene. Naruto, Kiba, Chouji, and Lee, your job will be to chase after the assassins over to the main gate, where I, Neji, and Sasuke will be waiting as an ambush attempt. As soon as Gaara, Shino, and Kankuro finish their interrogations, they will join us as quickly as possible. This is Plan B. Everyone understand?" Shikamaru asked, and everyone nodded._

_Good. Then everyone get a good night's sleep—we have to get up early tomorrow."_

* * *

  **Date: Day of the Festival's Parade**

**Time: Early Morning—5 o' clock am**

**Place: Hotel Drucellean, room #2254**

"Okay, everyone ready?" Shikamaru looked at everyone's faces. They nodded, and he stood up. "Dismissed!"

The shinobi scattered off to their assigned positions. Chouji, Shino, Kiba, and Akamaru to the gate guards; Lee, Naruto, Gaara, Kankuro, Neji, and Sasuke to the Feudal Lord's castle. Shikamaru himself stayed in the hotel room, pulling out his map.

"Well, Shikamaru. What do we do?" The genius smirked. "We wait."

Sai, Kakashi, Asuma, Kurenai, and Gai nodded, standing.

* * *

**Place: Gate Guards of the Honey Country**

"Are you absolutely sure?" The guard asked, looking at the three shinobi with concern. Kiba nodded. "Absolutely." Akamaru barked.

He nodded, then shouted orders for the gates to close.

"Excuse me." Shino looked at the man in the eye. "We would like to check all of the side gates as well. Do you mind showing them to us? This success will play a role in your lord's life." His glassed gleamed from the reflecting lantern light, and the man gulped nervously.

"O-of course, sir. Right this way."

* * *

**Place: Feudal Lord's Castle (exterior)**

"Alright, you guys know what to do, right?" Lee and Naruto nodded. "YOSH! We shall not let even an animal pass through!" He exclaimed excitedly. "Keep it down, Lee." Neji said, reprimanding his teammate. "Oh. Sorry. Oh, and with the exception of Akamaru and Shino's bugs." He added.

Sasuke sighed, rolling his eyes. "Let's just go already." The two sand siblings nodded, agreeing with the Uchiha prodigy and followed him inside the castle. The Hyuuga prodigy himself was not very far behind.

When the doors, swung shut, Lee and Naruto looked at each other. "Ok, I'll take the left side and you can take the right!" Naruto said, and Lee nodded.

* * *

**Place: Feudal Lord's Castle (interior)**

"Alright. You two go ahead to the Feudal Lord. We'll search the castle grounds." Kankuro told the Uchiha and the Hyuuga. The two nodded and walked on. The two Sand Siblings looked at each other. "I'll go that way." Kankuro said, his brother nodding and creating some sand clones in response. They split up started searching the castle discreetly, away from any prying eyes.

**Place: Feudal Lord's Castle; Throne Room**

Sasuke and Neji stood stone-still as they waited for the Feudal Lord to enter the room. A couple of minutes later, the lord entered and walked past the shinobi, settling onto his throne. "Well?" He asked, a bit annoyed at them for disturbing his beauty rest.

"Lord, we are here to guard you from the assassination attempts. This is part of a plan that our strategist has come up with best to protect you." Neji said looking at the man.

The Feudal Lord suddenly seemed to remember the Konoha shinobi's purposes in his kingdom, and he nodded quickly. "Alright then. Do whatever you must."

Sasuke spoke now. "What is your entire schedule for the day?"

"Well, my chief advisor has that piece of information—everything is already planned out of course."

"Yes, and we will be by your side the whole time. However, I think we are to go disguised." Sasuke glanced at Neji who immediately nodded at this statement.

"It would be best in helping to protect you." Was all he said, and the lord nodded, for his own life was dependent on these two shinobi.

"Very well then." The lord responded, and then glanced at the door, a page entering to proclaim breakfast.

* * *

"Well what did you find?"

"Nothing really."

"I see."

". . ."

"Festival starts in two hours."

"Wow, that fast already?"

"Yes. It will soon be eight o'clock. The parade starts at ten. I want everyone except for Sasuke, Neji, Kiba, Shino, Chouji, and Akamaru to be in the crowd. Sasuke and Neji are still to guard the client. Kiba, Chouji, Akamaru, and Shino will stay hidden near the guards—not too close and not too far. You need to be on the lookout."

"You got it, Shikamaru."

"Alright, you have your assignments. Go."

"But what of the jounin and Sai?"

"They are the back-up."

"OK then."

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**Ok, this is chapter 10. Next one is going to center around the girls, and then we'll get down to the parade where - R- will take place. You should know what it is already.**

**Sorry for the delay, but yes, I WILL update, no matter how long.**


	11. Festival part two Girls

**The Kunoichis That Didn't Belong Ch. 11**

**Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN NARUTO!**

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**Date: Day of the Festival's Parade**

**Time: Early Morning—6 o' clock am**

**Place: Hotel Drucellean, room #1505**

Sitting on the floor, Ino glared at Sakura who glared back at Ino.

TenTen and Hinata chose at that moment to enter through the door of their room, and Temari appearing inside from the window.

". . ." TenTen looked at the blonde and the pinkette. "What are you two doing?"

Hinata set down her tray of food and closed the door with her foot as Temari shut her own entrance inside.

Ino and Sakura immediately looked at the three who had entered, and turned their wrath from each other to the three kunoichis before them. "WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU WAKE US UP?"

"Well, we tried, but you two kept snoring." Temari said annoyed, and gave them a glance.

They opened their mouths to protest, but then Hinata spoke. "Can you guys be quieter? People are going to wake up, complain, then get us kicked out or place the spotlight on us, which we don't want."

The two looked at Hinata and was silent for about three seconds, before responding.

"Ok, you're right." Sakura said, and Ino nodded.

"By the way, Hinata. You're not stuttering anymore." Ino commented, with Sakura nodding now.

"Well- . . . I . . ." Hinata began to say, but then straightened out with more confidence.

"I'm not who I was before we left, and yesterday was only because of I was quite startled. It will _not_  happen again." She declared fiercely to them, and the other girls nodded.

"Hinata is right." TenTen spoke now, and glanced around at all the girls.

"We all were merely startled because we had not encountered our birth-country-men before now. But that is just a fleeting moment and we are stronger, no?" They nodded when she paused, and she carried on.

"We are stronger, and if they ever find out our identities, then they will know that. We are not weak like before."

The four girls facing her nodded, and after a passing of two seconds, TenTen's face broke into a smile.

"OK, so who wants breakfast?"

* * *

**Time: 6:25 am**

**Place: Hotel Drucellean, room #1505**

"Alright. Now tell us where you three were." Ino and Sakura demanded.

The three looked at each other, then turned back to the two, Hinata opening her mouth to speak.

"Well, TenTen, Temari, and I woke up at 5 o'clock, the time we agreed on. We went to wake up you two as well so that we could go over the plan, but you two would not wake and also began to flail around the strength of the Fifth Hokage's fist and making loud noise. So we three agreed to leave you alone so no one would come to investigate the strange sounds."

She paused as Ino and Sakura made a face, but they gestured for her to go on, and so she did.

"Well, we sat on the floor and reviewed the plan. Then we left the room to scout."

Hinata turned to Temari who now spoke. "I went to the main gates, keeping myself hidden."

Temari turned to TenTen who said, "I went down the alleyways and checked out the perimeter of the castle."

TenTen turned to Hinata who said, "I went to festival marketplaces to see their products." and resumed her narration of the hour before.

"After thirty minutes, we gathered at the fountain in the main square of this country. Temari found the gates closing, but couldn't exactly decipher the reasons why. TenTen sensed different presences at the castle, but could not determine who they were. I was merely strolling through, but keeping an eye out for the unnatural anyway.

We met back together at the Flower Fountain when it was 5: 45. Then we headed back to the hotel. TenTen-san and I grabbed some food to bring back here, and Temari-san reentered through the window."

" . . . " Sakura and Ino looked at each other, then back at the three before them.

"That's it?" They frowned when the three kunoichi nodded.

"Ok, then tell us about the situation in which you found the gates were closing, who was in the castle, and what you spotted at the market."

The three related their tales to the two, and the two sat in silence after hearing it.

". . . "

Then Sakura suddenly spoke. "Is it possible . . . that it was the . . ." she paused, searching for a word, then continued after apparently settling on one. "That it was the Konoha shinobi sent to protect the Feudal Lord?"

The three thought about it, then nodded.

"Yes, it is quite possible . . ." TenTen commented, thinking.

Temari nodded. "Yea, that would make sense. You know—close the gates the day of the Feudal Lord's appearance to the public so that new assassinators don't come."

"That and the fact that if the assassinators are already here, they cannot escape from the country." Hinata added.

Ino nodded her head. "Exactly. But . . . They don't suspect us . . . right?"

". . ."

"That question cannot be answered now, for we are unsure." Temari stated when no one else spoke.

The girls nodded, and then looked at each other.

"So what's the plan now?"

* * *

**Time: 7:30 am**

**Place: Outside in the country's main square, near the Flower Fountain**

"Ok, everyone knows what to do, right?"

They nodded, then split away from each other, all in different directions.

TenTen went to a nearby tea stall—a place where the Lord would surely pass on the parade.

Sakura and Ino went to the main gates to see if they could seduce the guards subtly to open the gates.

Temari was on the outskirts of the crowd, near the buildings of the country.

Hinata was mingled into the crowd, ready to activate her bloodline and give TenTen a hand when her job was finished.

* * *

**Time: 9:58 am**

"Ok, two minutes till the parade starts." Temari said through her earpiece. "Everyone ready?"

"Yup!" was the hushed unison reply from all four girls.

"Alright then. Good luck." Temari said and smirked when trumpets announced the start of the parade and the Official and Public Viewing of the Feudal Lord of the Honey Country.

He arrived in a wide platform carried by his servants. There were four pillars at the corners supporting the roof. The Feudal Lord sat in the very middle on a chair with two people dressed in black beside him. Their faces were covered so you couldn't tell who it was, but TenTen had a feeling it would be two Konoha shinobi. After all, that would be a basic strategy—not one below the Nara genius Shikamaru.

* * *

**Alright, I will put up chapter twelve but it will take some time. In the meanwhile, please review.**

**I originally planned the pairings to be: NejiTen, ShikaTema, NaruHina, SasuSaku, and SaiIno. However, if you want something different, then please review what pairing you want. Starting on from this chapter, I will count the votes for each pairing, and the pairing with the most votes will be the official pairing for this story. If no one votes, or there is a tie, then I will go with the pairings listed before.**

**Ex. ShikaTema=9 ShikaIno=9 Winner: ShikaTema**

**SaiIno=18 ShikaIno=10 Winner: SaiIno**

**I think the deadline will be at the end of Chapter 13, before the start of Chapter 14. If you want me to extend the deadline, you'd best review before I put up the chapters, huh?**

**See you next time!**


	12. Festival Part Three

**The Kunoichis That Didn't Belong Ch. 12**

**Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN NARUTO!**

* * *

Recap:  _"Yes. It will soon be eight o'clock. The parade starts at ten. I want everyone except for Sasuke, Neji, Kiba, Shino, Chouji, and Akamaru to be in the crowd. Sasuke and Neji are still to guard the client. Kiba, Chouji, Akamaru, and Shino will stay hidden near the guards—not too close and not too far. You need to be on the lookout."_

_He arrived in a wide platform carried by his servants. There were four pillars at the corners supporting the roof. The Feudal Lord sat in the very middle on a chair with two people dressed in black beside him. Their faces were covered so you couldn't tell who it was, but TenTen had a feeling it would be two Konoha shinobi. After all, that would be a basic strategy—not one below the Nara genius Shikamaru._

* * *

**Date: Day of the Festival's Parade**

**Time: Morning—10 o' clock am**

**Place: Main Square; on platform with Feudal Lord**

**Event: Parade's Start**

Calm but alert faces scanned the crowd, aware that the assassination would perhaps happen, perhaps not, but it was better to stay alert and on guard than otherwise.

Neji and Sasuke watched the Feudal Lord wave around at his people and they took note of anybody that seemed suspicious.

Throughout the parade, there were several stops for the Feudal Lord. They stopped at the Official Plate stall, the Official Jewelry stall, the Official Cloth stall, the Official Game stall, and the Official Dance stall. Next on the list were the Official Flower stall, the Official Tea stall, the Official Pet stall, the Official Carving stall, the Official Food stall, the Official Wise stall, and lastly, the Official Fireworks stall.

At the stops, the Feudal Lord was gifted with all sorts of things. He received a beautiful Plate, got a wondrous necklace, some lovely curtains, a small box containing the newest game invention, and even a medal stating he was winner of the first Dance round after doing a couple of steps.

He arranged Flowers and got some as a gift, received some warm tea, looked at the pets and getting a brush for his nephew's lemur, some cookies, a wooden dragon carving, a fortune slip, and lastly, set off the Official Fireworks.

The parade lasted exactly one hour, with about 5-6 minutes at each stall. The Feudal Lord stood up at the platform, and gave a speech lasting one minute to the citizens regarding the festival and country. Just as everyone started to applaud, the Feudal Lord bent over, coughed once, and collapsed to the ground.

People gasped and everyone craned their necks to see what would happen next. Medical personnel rushed through the crowd to get to the Feudal Lord. Neji knelt beside the fallen Lord and felt his neck for a pulse, activating his Byakugan at the same time as Sasuke scanned the crowd and contacted Shikamaru through the communication wire.

But Neji stood up as the medics arrived. "He's dead then." Sasuke said as he noticed Neji stand up beside him, and the Hyuuga nodded in reply.

"Hello, Shikamaru? He's dead. We're going to scout around here and-" Sasuke was cut off by a yelling stall owner.

"I remember! A girl with brown hair and a purple kimono had the tea pot last! And she wasn't part of our staff!" he yelled, telling the Royal Investigators.

As Neji went to talk to the stall owners, Sasuke resumed talking to Shikamaru.

"Ok, so a girl came and poisoned the Feudal Lord. Do we stay to investigate?"

"No." Shikamaru said. "Kankuro and Lee are heading over there now. You and Neji should get to the gates. We have an idea where they're heading."

Sasuke nodded, even though Shikamaru couldn't see it. "Alright, we're on our way." He looked at Neji, who had come back just then. "We're going to the gates." He informed the Hyuuga.

Neji gave a slight nod, and deported from the scene next to Sasuke.

* * *

**Date: Day of the Festival's Parade**

**Time: Morning—10: 59 am**

**Place: Main Gates**

Sakura and Ino shifted a glance at each other.

Thirty minutes earlier, Ino had tried to seduce the guards, but failed. Sakura, on lookout, reported quietly for Ino to retreat, as she heard something. Ino went away just in time, for Shino and Kiba appeared next to the guards. Akamaru barked, and insects shifted around but neither shinobi moved from their spot.

After approximately ten minutes, the two walked away, taking Akamaru with them and leaving the guards alone again.

Sakura frowned, glancing at her small watch. "The poison should be taking effect soon." The pinkette whispered, and they waited for a moment. Suddenly, there was buzz of the crowd behind them, and the two shifted slightly.

"That's our cue, I should think." Ino said, and the two females sprung out from behind the bushes. The guards were soon decapitated, and they started to work on the mechanisms to open the gate.

"Quickly now. Before Kiba and Shino gets here." Ino whispered and Sakura nodded. Within moments, there was clicking sound and the gates swung open slowly. The commotion at the festival grounds had caused confusion for the guards at the top of the gate. They were stalled and confused by Kiba and Chouji who were telling them to stay and by their own want to do their duty.

Just as the gates were opening, Ino received a transmission from Hinata. She stopped and pressed a button that allowed her to hear Hinata's voice more clearly.

"Hello? What's wrong?" Ino asked quickly.

"Nothing. He's dead. TenTen's with me and we're on our way." Hinata reported.

"What about Tem- I mean Clover?"

There was a slight pause. "I… I'm not sure… But I think she's scouting ahead, and there's-" Hinata gasped, and Ino heard an explosion in the background.

"What happened?" Ino cried, concerned.

Hinata's voice was shaky. "I don't think we should talk now. Be on the lookout and be careful!" Hinata warned before turning off the communications system.

Ino turned to Sakura who was looking at her with apprehension. "What is it? What happened?"

The blond kunoichi shook her head. "I don't know, but we should probably go ahead now." The pinkette nodded in agreement, and both took a step forward.

"I don't think so."

A voice and its speaker stopped them cold, and they stared wordlessly at the shinobi before them, blocking off their path.

* * *

**Date: Day of the Festival's Parade**

**Time: Morning—11: 15 am**

**Place: Outskirts of the Crowd**

Temari raced along the buildings quickly, not bothering to hide her ninja speed. She couldn't believe what she had heard, yet accepted it.

' _Damn it!'_

Unfortunately she couldn't get any word to the others—jammers must have been in place. Temari mentally cursed the genius who could think of everything and anything for every situation.

"I  _hate_  that guy." She muttered, and was about to run on, but the shinobi ahead of her stopped her in her tracks. Her eyes widened. She couldn't believe it.  _How dare_  that Shikamaru!

* * *

**Date: Day of the Festival's Parade**

**Time: Morning—11: 20 am**

**Place: Crowd**

TenTen ran with Hinata, jumping the buildings of the rooftops with slight difficulty, thanks to the kimonos they wore.

"Do you think Temari is okay?" Hinata asked as they ran.

TenTen nodded. "She'll be fine. She's strong. We have to trust her, Ino, and Sakura."

"I know."

During the speech, TenTen had mingled with the crowd and found Hinata. They began to walk subtly away from the Feudal Lord and just in time as well, for he just collapsed, and the crowd began to crowd forward.

Hinata had activated her Byakugan and contacted Ino as well, but then there was an explosion to their right. TenTen and Hinata ducked down, and Hinata ended her transmission.

"Hurry!"

The two raced toward a random building and began climbing up, as the crowd panicked and surged around everywhere.

"Almost there!" Hinata cried as the Gates slowly came into sight. However, she then halted suddenly, gasping. "Wait! Shinobi up ahead!"

TenTen halted and two shinobi walked toward them.

* * *

**Well, here are the results of Chapter Eleven!**

NejiTen- 5 / SasuSaku- 4 / InoShika- 3 / ShikaTema- 5 / NaruHina- 5 / SaiIno- 4 / SaiTema- 1 / GaaHina- 1 / NejiIno- 1 / SakuShika- 1 / SasuTen- 1

**Anyways, I've already got chapter 13 typed out, so I'll probably wait a week or so before posting that chapter up. Please review and I hope to see you soon!**


	13. Festival Part Four

**The Kunoichis That Didn't Belong Ch. 13**

**Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN NARUTO!**

* * *

Recap:  _A voice and its speaker stopped them cold, and they stared wordlessly at the shinobi before them, blocking off their path._

" _I_ hate _that guy." She muttered, and was about to run on, but the shinobi ahead of her stopped her in her tracks. Her eyes widened. She couldn't believe it._ How dare _that Shikamaru!_

_TenTen halted and two shinobi walked toward them._

* * *

**Date: Day of the Festival's Parade**

**Time: Morning—11: 30 am**

**Place: Outskirts of the Festival (Near buildings)**

Temari glared, glared at the red-headed man and the one covered in purple paints.

"You." She spat, unable to keep silent.

"Temari." Gaara stepped forward, and she stepped back.

"What do you want?" she asked, eyes narrowing, not bothering to keep up her 'disguise' anymore. It didn't matter, since they would know, they probably had always known.

Kankuro spoke. "We want to know what's going on."

"There's nothing going on."

"You helped assassinate the Feudal Lord." Gaara stated.

"And if I did?" Temari retorted, not denying her part.

"We'll have to take you in." Kankuro said, and she snorted.

" _You_? Take  _me_  in? You couldn't do it back then, and can't do it now." She scoffed.

She slipped into a stance, and her brothers followed her lead, copying her, and for a moment, it seemed like the old days when they trained, before they started to say their opinions aloud, of her being weak and pathetic.

' _Which is weird...'_  she thought, upon the sudden recollection. Quickly, she shook her head. No. She would  _not_  be distracted by the past. They were her enemies now, and would be treated as thus.

She lunged, making the first move, swinging kunai this way and that. Her brothers dodged, and split up away from her.

She lobbed shuriken at them, and Gaara blocked them with his sand—Kankuro with his puppets.

"Why are you doing this?" Gaara asked as their kunai clashed.

"None of your business." She spat and they leapt back from each other.

Behind her, where she was going to land, was Kankuro, and he attacked her with Karasu.

She twisted to the side, barely dodging the attack, and a kunai embedded itself into her arm. She winced slightly with the sudden pain, but landed safely before charging at Kankuro and throwing shuriken at Gaara at the same time.

"Come back with us." Gaara told her from the side.

She ignored him and replied with a question. "What else is your group planning?"

"Just give up!" Kankuro shouted.

"Never!"

They attacked once more, two-against-one.

"Who else are you working with?" Kankuro asked. "Let me guess—the other missing kunoichis from Konoha!"

"No, I'm solo. What's it to you?"

"What's your goal then?!" He demanded.

"Ha! Like I would tell you!" Temari's eyes glanced around. This fight was going to too long, it seemed.  _'I should get to the others…'_  she thought, then made a move.

Temari jabbed at them to the right, but actually feinted left. Then, she leapt backwards, and grabbed something behind her.

Kankuro and Gaara instantly got ready for an attack they expected to come. One from her fan.

Yes, it was her beloved fan that she drew out in front of her. And she fanned it out before her, shielding her body from view, leaving only the hand holding it and her legs and feet exposed. They braced themselves. Ready for any one blow that could send them flying through the air if not ready. The hand moved, and they felt a rush of air.

But it never happened; they were never hit.

Gaara and Kankuro stared at their sister as she waved a powerful wind, and jumped onto her fan.

"Tell him not to send you after me." She informed them, the only message she said as she stared down at her brothers, the wind blowing around them.  _'Send someone else after me, because it would be far easier to attack them and not think twice.'_ And then, before they could react, she twisted a part of her fan, and changed the wind's direction. Soon, she was sailing out of sight, far, far away.

* * *

**Date: Day of the Festival's Parade**

**Time: Morning—11: 30 am**

**Place: Building Rooftops (Somewhat near Festival Grounds)**

TenTen stared wordlessly at the shinobi before her. It was Lee and Naruto. Her eyes glanced toward Hinata to see how the Hyuuga would respond. But Hinata's face had scarcely changed, so TenTen turned her eyes back to her former teammate and friend.

"Lily, you're one of the assassinators?" Naruto asked, and TenTen couldn't believe how stupid he was.

However, Lee was different. "TenTen?" He questioned.

She shook her head. "Nope. My name is Wisteria." She thought that since Naruto didn't know it was Hinata, it would be best to keep her identity under wraps as well—Lee might believe it, and if he didn't Naruto probably would.

"Why are you doing this?" Lee asked.

"Because we are." Hinata responded, and shifted into a fighting stance, but not the Hyuuga-styled one, for she knew that Lee was her cousin's teammate.

Beside her, TenTen did the same, and Lee and Naruto did as well.

No one moved, and they watched their opponents, waiting for the first strike.

Hinata ran towards them suddenly, throwing kunai and shuriken at them. Naruto ducked, and Lee threw a kunai back to block it. TenTen ran to the side and attacked them with a barrage of shuriken, all aimed at their bodies but not their vital points.

Naruto attacked Hinata as she charged at him, and the metallic ring of kunai against kunai could be heard. Lee and TenTen, on the other hand, where engaged in a steady fist-to-fist combat, where TenTen was keeping up easy with Lee even though she knew that hand-and-foot combat was his greatest strength.

Fifteen minutes passed, and none of them were breaking a sweat. The panicked voices below had become a hum in the background, and their focus was only on their ally and opponent.

TenTen's eyes shifted toward Hinata's direction as she fought Lee. Hinata seemed fine, and Naruto seemed to be doing OK, but TenTen knew that he would probably tire soon.

As Lee fought 'Wisteria' he found himself feeling a slight sense of de ja vu, as if had fought this woman before. And if this 'Wisteria' lady was TenTen, (he couldn't shake off the feeling that they seemed the same), then that would explain why, as they had often sparred together in the past, but not as often as she sparred with Neji, maybe.

TenTen felt herself fighting Lee in the way that she used to move. A gasp toward her left distracted her, and she felt Lee's fist graze her cheek. TenTen flipped back and landed next to Hinata; Lee running and stopping next to Naruto.

"What happened?" TenTen whispered, wary of their opponents.

Hinata looked at TenTen, and replied. "The gates."

"…" TenTen risked a glance at the gates, and that was when Lee struck. Except Hinata saw him and automatically used Jyuken, hitting some pressure points on his arm. Naruto leaped at them, and TenTen threw a kunai at him out of reflex, her accuracy deadly. He managed to shift his head to the side just in time, as the kunai flew past him and embedded itself into the next building's wall. The thin cut that grazed his cheek started to bleed, and the four stared at each other, two-versus-two.

Hinata thought that if this went on any longer, their cover might be revealed, and however dumb Naruto might be, he was more stubborn than anyone Hinata ever knew.

A glance at TenTen told her that the brunette thought the same, and it was probably time to go.

Suddenly, the four of them felt wind, and they glanced upward for the shadow on the ground.

Temari flew straight past them, not even acknowledging their presences, and they watched her fly away on her giant fan.

Approximately two minutes later, they spotted two figures running on the rooftops following the former Sand kunoichi. One had red-hair and the other was clothed in black. It was obviously Gaara and Kankuro.

TenTen's eyes shifted toward Hinata, then slightly nodded. Hinata tensed, then flipped backward, TenTen beside her doing the same. They landed lightly on the next rooftop, and started to run, following Temari.

Lee and Naruto were distracted by the sudden appearance of the Sand shinobi to really do anything, and they did not react instantly as both girls left the scene.

"What now?" TenTen asked as she ran beside the Hyuuga.

"We find Ino and Sakura." Hinata replied, and the two raced toward the gates with the Leaf shinobi behind them.

* * *

**Thank you so much for reviewing!**

**From Chapter 11:**   _Devil's Angel 24-7, Luna Rei Harmony, , diff-r-ent-1, SasuSaku'sLittleGrl, xxguesswhoxx, I-never-Forget-To-Be-Awesome, A Forgotten Fairy. AKA- Fairy, lia no demon,_ **and** _WolfGirl_

 **From Chapter 12:**   _Devil's Angel 24-7, Just., CrazyWannabe0277, AnimeFreak218,_ **and** _WolfGirl_

**It means a lot to me, and also thanks for casting in your votes—This is the results of chapter 11+12.**

**NejiTen- 6 / SasuSaku- 6 / InoShika- 3 / ShikaTema- 7 / NaruHina- 7 / SaiIno- 5 / SaiTema- 1 / GaaHina- 1 / NejiIno- 1 / SakuShika- 1 / SasuTen- 2 / InoChou- 1**

**The official pairings will be announced in ch. 14. Votes are no longer accepted as of now.**

**Can't wait to see you again! Please review!**


	14. Festival Part Five

**The Kunoichis That Didn't Belong Ch. 14**

**Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN NARUTO!**

* * *

 Recap:  _"Tell him not to send you after me." She informed them, the only message she said as she stared down at her brothers, the wind blowing around them. 'Send someone else after me, because it would be far easier to attack them and not think twice.' And then, before they could react, she twisted a part of her fan, and changed the wind's direction. Soon, she was sailing out of sight, far, far away._

" _What now?" TenTen asked as she ran beside the Hyuuga._

_We find Ino and Sakura." Hinata replied, and the two raced toward the gates with the Leaf shinobi behind them._

* * *

  **Date: Day of the Festival's Parade**

**Time: Morning—11: 50 am**

**Place: Main Gates**

Ino and Sakura stopped in surprise. Shikamaru, Shino, Kiba, Chouji, Akamaru, and a couple of guards were in front of them. They were confused, and their faces showed that.

Ino glanced quickly at Sakura, shooting a look that asked 'Was this part of the plan?' To which Sakura retuned 'No, don't think so.'

They snapped back to attention as Shikamaru walked forward.

He stared at them, seeming as if he was studying their faces, but that was a cover-up, for he already guessed who he was dealing with. "You're Sakura and Ino, aren't you?"

The kunoichis' faces remained calm and composed even though inside them wasn't quite so.

"No, we are named Blossom and Rose." Sakura finally decides to say, stepping forward; thus drawing attention to her as Ino subtly scanned the area around them, looking for a way out.

"You fool no one." Shino said after a long moment of silence, his voice breaking it. "You are surrounded, and should come quietly."

Ino smirked. "Come quietly? Does anyone ever do that?" she asked.

Kiba growled, stepping forward. "Don't mess with us. I don't know what you're planning, but you're coming with us!"

Sakura withdrew a step until she was aligned next to Ino. The two took up an offensive stance, and the shinobi before them did so accordingly in response. "We're not going without a fight."

"As you wish." All shinobi and guards with the exception of Shikamaru stepped forward. Shikamaru only looked at the two. "It doesn't have to be this way."

"Yeah, right."

"Fine." He gave a small huff. "Troublesome." He muttered, and stepped back within the ranks of the assembled shinobi and guards behind him.

* * *

The fight was spurred on, shinobi and guards versus the two kunoichis.

Sakura attacked with a sword as Ino threw kunai, both mentally aware of the other's presence and careful not to loose the other.

They attacked and defended with grace, dodging the skilled and clumsy attacks headed toward them.

* * *

Shikamaru watched the battle from the side. He wasn't going to participate in this fight. Not yet.

Two silent figures landed beside him, but he didn't spare a glance at them.

"Is that Ino and Sakura?" Sasuke asked, and Shikamaru inclined his head slightly.

"That is whom I believe them to be, though they claim themselves as 'Blossom' and 'Rose'." He told them, and Neji's eyebrow rose slightly. "Flower names?" he inquired.

Shikamaru nodded. "And from the information I received from Lee, there are two others, also claiming flower names. Gaara did not say, but I shall stand to assume the one he fought against claimed such a name as well."

Neji nodded. "Very well. Do we join in this fight?"

Shikamaru shook his head. "I would suggest waiting first. I believe we will have more arrivals shortly."

* * *

"Did you hear that? Maybe we should try to contact them." Hinata said worriedly as she and TenTen neared the main gates, and the clashes of metal could be heard. "Oh, but it might distract them…."

"Quiet now." TenTen warned as the two got closer. Hinata nodded, and the two silently ran on.

Nearing, they could see the battle displayed; Sakura and Ino themselves caught up in the middle of it.

Exchanging a glance, Hinata and TenTen ran into the battle, throwing kunai and other weapons at the unsuspecting attackers.

"Guys we're here now." Hinata said as she and TenTen reached Sakura and Ino.

"Good to know." Sakura responded, never taking her eyes off the attackers.

* * *

Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Neji watched as TenTen and Hinata ran headlong into the battle, throwing weapons at the shinobi and guards.

"Seems I was right." Shikamaru said quietly.

". . . Now?"

"Go ahead."

Neji and Sasuke joined the battle alongside the newly-arrived Lee and Naruto.

* * *

They noticed, of course, as Neji, Sasuke, Lee, and Naruto entered the fight.

Who didn't?

And they all braced themselves for a long fight, all-the-while wondering what happened to Temari.

* * *

It was if their thoughts had summoned her.

A hard gust of wind blew overhead, and all stopped fighting in surprise.

Everyone glanced upward, and their faces took on the expression of surprise.

There, stood the one kunoichi missing from the four below, and not far behind her ran the two shinobi of the Sand, one with red hair, and the other dressed in black.

"I've received word." Temari said, using the moment that lacked battle to speak. "They have been informed and wish for us to return immediately."

"Alright." TenTen replied immediately.

Some men turned to her, startled, and Temari used that moment to wave her fan down hard below at those below.

Some got blown away, and that was when the four females darted through the wind and out through the gates.

"Made it!" Ino exclaimed with relief as they ran, putting in distance between them and the attackers.

"Maybe." Sakura said worriedly. "Hinata?"

Hinata frowned. "I don't think we're in the clear…They may be following us." Her Byakugan was activated and she scanned behind them.

Suddenly, from overhead, they heard Temari's voice. "They're gaining on you!" she warned.

TenTen frowned. "Alright, then split up and don't get followed! Get back to our marked spot—we'll regroup from there." She decided.

"Alright," they chimed unanimously, and scattered in the matter of seconds, each off in a different direction.

* * *

**Well, the votes are cast and the official pairings are such: NejiTen, SasuSaku, SaiIno, ShikaTema, and NaruHina.**

**Thank you for all your reviews, and though I don't promise a quick update, I can promise an update.**

**P.S. Don't forget to R &R! ^_^**


	15. Out of the Land of the Honey

**The Kunoichis That Didn't Belong Ch. 15**

**Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN NARUTO!**

Recap:  _Hinata frowned. "I don't think we're in the clear…They may be following us." Her Byakugan was activated and she scanned behind them._

_Suddenly, from overhead, they heard Temari's voice. "They're gaining on you!" she warned._

_TenTen frowned. "Alright, then split up and don't get followed! Get back to our marked spot—we'll regroup from there." She decided._

" _Alright," they chimed unanimously, and scattered in the matter of seconds, each off in a different direction._

* * *

**Date: Day of the Festival's Parade**

**Time: Morning—11: 50 am**

**Place: Main Gates**

"Shikamaru! They've split up. What do we do?" Kiba's voice comes loud over the radio, and Shikamaru winces before answering.

"Follow them but be careful. Go in groups!" he orders, and listens as Kiba barks out his orders to the rest of them.

Kiba turns off his com-link and Shikamaru sighs.

* * *

Sakura ran across the open grass, and cursed for she could be easily spotted in the open area. As she ran, she couldn't help wondering what went wrong—the plan itself went without a hitch!

She huffed, eyes narrowing.  _'Leave it to Shikamaru to figure us out.'_

* * *

Sasuke ran silently after the pinkette, taking care to stay hidden from sight, and cloaking his chakra as well. He knew without a doubt that the assassin before him was his old teammate, and he didn't understand why.

* * *

Hinata leaped easily from tree to tree, moving without a sound. Thanks to her Byakugan, she knew that her old teammates, Kiba, Shino, and Akamaru were behind her. She also knew that her cousin and Rock Lee were nearby as well, to her left, since they were chasing TenTen. And if for some reason they ran into her, she knew her cousin would easily switch to target her instead.

* * *

Temari is high, high in the sky, flying over the forest. She can tell her brothers are below, following her, not letting her out of their sight. She curses herself, wondering why, after so many years of solitude  _away_  from them, _why_  does she still care?

And in her heart, she knows the answer. In her heart, she knew that she never believed a word they said about her being weak, because she knew something was wrong, and it wasn't their fault at all.

In the end, despite all the shinobis' efforts, right as they were going to approach them, the kunoichis vanished.

* * *

"Shikamaru? They vanished. What do we do now?" Shino asks over the link.

"Keep scouting the area for a while. They may not have gotten far away."

"OK."

* * *

Temari lands on a large rock in the middle of a clearing, and puts away her giant tessen. Hinata and TenTen enter the clearing a moment later, and stop next to Temari on the rock. Ino comes next, and Sakura last. They take a moment to catch their breath.

"So?" TenTen finally asks, standing straight once more.

"I think we lost them. We're far enough away." Ino replies.

Hinata nods in agreement, and Sakura turns to Temari. "So, we're getting called back?"

Temari hops off the rock. "Yep. You bet'cha. They heard about the gates of the Land of Honey closing, and want us back now."

TenTen turned to the rest of them. "Well, we should go then. Oh, and new disguises will help."

* * *

Something beeps, and Shikamaru looks at his link. "Hello?"

"I see them."

"Tail them, and don't get followed. As soon as they reach their base, tell me the location."

"Alright then."

The radio is switched off, and Shikamaru sets to organize the guards of the Land of Honey.

* * *

Five women wearing normal clothing walks away from the clearing. They are clearly sisters, for they have the same features. There is no sign that may suggest they are anything less than respectable, much less a ninja.

"Ready?"

The five of them walk away calmly and quickly.

Without their notice, from above, someone watches them.

* * *

**Well, that was a short chapter, and I know I've taken a long time. But working on the next chapters and editing the beginning chapters take time. So, enjoy what you have—Chapter 16 will be up next week. Thank you for your support.**


	16. Return

**The Kunoichis That Didn't Belong Ch. 16**

**Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN NARUTO!**

* * *

Recap:  _"I see them."_

" _Tail them, and don't get followed. As soon as they reach their base, tell me the location."_

* * *

**Date: Three days after the assassination**

**Time: Morning—5: 00 am**

**Place: Unknown, Hoshigakure**

Hinata, Ino, Sakura, Temari, and TenTen went farther and farther away from the Land of Honey, and towards Hoshigakure.

It was three days after the assassination before they arrived at the village. The sky was dark, for the morning sun had not yet come.

They entered and walked inside one of the buildings. It was time to announce their mission's success.

* * *

The ninja in the air wonders why the Hidden Star Village is involved, but decides to let someone else deal with that information.

"Shikamaru? They're at Hoshigakure."

There is a pause on the other side of the link before Shikamaru answers. "Ok. Find out what you can about what they are doing there. If there's more information, find that out as well."

The link is switched off, and the ninja sends down black creatures to listen in.

* * *

"We completed it." Sakura announces with a smile, and looks at the two female kunoichi in front of them.

". . . Congratulations then." Rayku smiles widely, beaming. "We knew that you would make it."

Raika nods. "Tell us everything. No detail left out."

The five glanced at each other, and then took turns to tell their story.

* * *

**Date: Three days after the assassination**

**Time: Morning—8: 50 am**

**Place: Konohagakure**

It was loud and chaotic. Everyone was arguing with each other and Shikamaru couldn't think. Well,  _he could_ , but that wasn't the point.

He looked down at his radio and noticed it was blinking. He moved away to a quieter area and answered.

* * *

"Hey! Quiet down!" Shikamaru yelled.

Everyone turned to look at him, and he took a breath.

"I know where they are."

* * *

Tsunade rubbed her aching head.

The shinobi had been yelling at each other outside her door, and Gaara, being the Kazekage had made her uncomfortable, with the country diplomacy and what-not. He had just stood there and insisted that they send out someone to find his sister.

Yep. Shikamaru had just confirmed the fact that the assassins were no other than that of Konoha and Suna's missing-kunoichis.

". . ." It was suddenly quiet all of a sudden, and Tsunade blinked.

The silence didn't last long, and chaos resumed outside.

* * *

"What do you mean you won't tell us!" Naruto and Kiba shouted at Shikamaru. "You just said you knew where they were!"

"Naruto. Kiba. Let go of me." Shikamaru ordered in a firm voice.

They let go, and stared at him, crossing their arms.

Gaara speaks, and his voice is cold. "Tell us what you know."

Shikamaru looks over at the Kazekage and his brother, considers, and then shakes his head. Naruto and Kiba move to go to him, but are held back by Rock Lee and Shino.

"We can't just barge in there. It's a different country and we can't spark a war just for those five. We need to know more information about the whole situation first. For example, who do they work for? What is their goal?" Shikamaru stared at them before continuing.

"We have to know who and what we're dealing with first. I already have someone who is finding out that information, and if you expect to go, then I expect you to have a cool head."

* * *

"Tsunade-sama." A voice spoke her name, and Tsunade looked up to see Shikamaru standing in her office.

"Yes, what is it, Shikamaru?" she replied, stopping her paperwork, secretly glad to have a short break from signing the damned documents.

"I've decided who to take with me to infiltrate the place."

She raised an eyebrow, only slightly surprised to find out that he had already decided on things. But then again, he was a genius.

"You already have information on them, Shikamaru?"

He nodded an affirmative, and she straightened up.

"Alright then. I'll leave it up to your capable hands. Find out everything you can and report back to me as soon as possible."

Shikamaru nodded. "Thank you. I'll be sure to leave you the list of who is going and why before we leave."

"Okay. How soon will it be?"

"Tomorrow night."

* * *

**Thanks for waiting! R &R because it helps, and Chapter 17 will be put up next week.**


	17. Chapter 17

**The Kunoichis That Didn't Belong Ch. 17**

**Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN NARUTO!**

* * *

Recap:  _"_ _We can't just barge in there. It's a different country and we can't spark a war just for those five. We need to know more information about the whole situation first. For example, who do they work for? What is their goal?" Shikamaru stared at them before continuing._

" _We have to know who and what we're dealing with first. I already have someone who is finding out that information, and if you expect to go, then I expect you to have a cool head."_

" _You already have information on them, Shikamaru?"_

" _Alright then. I'll leave it up to your capable hands. Find out everything you can and report back to me as soon as possible."_

" _Okay. How soon will it be?"_

" _Tomorrow night."_

* * *

**Date: Four days after the assassination**

**Time: Night—9:00 pm**

**Place: Konohagakure Gate**

Shikamaru glanced around at the rest of the ninja beside him.

"All right. I've chosen you five for specific reasons. One is that you should be able to keep your cool. Two, you should have some quick-thinking, and lastly, although you are close to the kunoichis, I trust you will be able to keep your feelings separate from the mission. Is that understood?" he asked, staring at them.

Neji, Sasuke, Shino, Gaara, Naruto nodded seriously back at Shikamaru, ready to go.

He surveyed them, saying, "And remember. If you do anything that endangers the mission, Konoha, or Suna," Shikamaru gave a slight glance to Gaara who nodded slightly, "then you can expect yourselves headed right back to Konoha. I'm not going to tolerate any foolishness."

Naruto spoke up. "Cut the chatter Shikamaru—let's get going!"

Shikamaru exhaled. "Fine, Naruto. I'll brief you guys when we get there. For now, let's go." He began to run away from the village, with the others following behind him in a triangle-shaped formation.

* * *

Shikamaru waited for the others to stop as he landed on the ground behind a large bush. He heard the silent thuds behind him and waited until there were no more. "Ok." He turned to the five shinobi. "I have a person right now tailing the girls and listening for information. He will keep us updated on the current situation." Shikamaru turned his head to his left. "Alright, come out, Sai."

Sai appeared from the tree in the direction Shikamaru had been looking at while Naruto gaped and pointed.

"What are you doing here?!" Naruto exclaimed.

"I am the intelligence." Sai said, giving a smile.

"Sai will now tell us what is happening currently and keep us posted." Shikamaru gestured his hand for Sai to begin, and he proceeded to do so.

* * *

**Date: Four days after the assassination**

**Time: Night—9:00 pm**

**Place: Unknown Building, Hoshigakure**

Hinata yawned, stretching her arms. She was surprisingly dead tired after reporting back to Rayku and Raika, even though their mission was over and done with. TenTen and Temari felt the same way as she did, but unfortunately, Sakura and Ino did not.

It was unfortunate because they were energetically bothering the other three.

Hinata gave another yawn, as she crawled into the bed in her room in the building provided by Rayku and Raika of Organization O. S. U. Y. She gave a small and happy smile as she recounted the fact that she would be one team with her old friends.

* * *

That alone was enough to bring about a smile as she fell asleep, blissfully unaware of the strange black creature in the corner of the dark room.

"So we know that they were indeed behind the assassination of the Feudal Lord. However, they are working for someone higher. Some kind of organization named O. S. U. Y. What it stands for and what their purpose is is still unknown, but I'm sure we will soon enough find out." Sai told the listening shinobi.

Shikamaru took lead over the conversation once more when it was clear Sai had nothing more to say.

"Alright. Since you are now informed of where we are currently, I will now assign you tasks that are to be completed before we start planning anything against them. Neji, Shino; you two will go with Sai, and are assigned the task of espionage  _without_  getting caught." Neji and Shino nod and Shikamaru turns to the other three. "Gaara, Naruto, and Sasuke. You three will be with me at the safe house, and will occasionally go out undercover. We will be updating information to Tsunade-sama." They nodded, accepting their tasks.

Sai motions to them and they follow as he leads them to the safe house, quickly settling in after arriving.

* * *

 **Wow, thanks so much for the reviews! Congratulations to**  sachiko haruki, KayeStar, Neguru Sucashi **, and** WolfGirl **! You've won two cookies each! ^ ^ I'm grateful to all of you who read this fanfic-expecially to those who read and supported it during the first couple of chapters before I went on that long and ridiculous hiatus because I lazy and I didn't really know what to put. But I know now, and will hopefully get there.**

**Unfortunately, I may be unable have weekly updates after chapter 18 or 19. This is just a heads up, but yeah, I'll try to update.**

**Thanks for all your support! Please Read & Review!**


	18. Chapter 18

**The Kunoichis That Didn't Belong Ch. 18**

**Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN NARUTO!**

* * *

Recap:  _She gave a small and happy smile as she recounted the fact that she would be one team with her old friends._

_That alone was enough to bring about a smile as she fell asleep, blissfully unaware of the strange black creature in the corner of the dark room._

_Sai motions to them and they follow as he leads them to the safe house, quickly settling in after arriving._

* * *

Eight days passed with the Konoha and Suna shinobi finding relatively little about the organization and why, all of a sudden, the MIA kunoichi were there and part of if. They were getting bored.

And then one day, Shino overhears them get assigned a new mission, and suddenly they are on alert. Because the name that is mention gives them every right to be cautious. Orochimaru.

* * *

**Time: Night—8:00 pm**

**Place: Unknown**

Shino looked at Shikamaru, waiting for the Nara to make his decision.

"You are certain then." Shikamaru looks up at Shino and the bug user nods, completely sure.

Shikamaru sighs, it seems like they may be involved in more than he had thought. "Alright. I will inform Hokage-sama at once."

* * *

"Orochimaru?" Sakura and Ino leaned forward in disbelief. Hinata, TenTen, and Temari stared at Rayku and Raika in astonishment.

"Yes." Rayku stared at the five, leaning back on her chair. "Orochimaru is one of our contacts.  _But_ ," she held a hand up before they could speak. "He has a certain object that  _we_  need, and we have certain information  _he_  needs."

Raika crossed her arms. "It has taken us five years to get this far into his trust and for him to get to us. But remember this: we are there only for our certain item, and he only for his information. The moment the two are exchanged, you may be attacked by him, do you understand? You must be on your guard."

They nodded, and Raika continued. "Orochimaru has stolen our Ninkaidan Scroll. It is a scroll that holds the techniques of a much greater jutsu. Fortunately, he does not know this. Unfortunately, he will find out, for that is the information he seeks."

"What does this mean then?" Sakura asked suspiciously. "If that is what he needs . . . What if he has already suspected that you hold it? Then wouldn't he have prepared a fake scroll for us and keep the real one?"

Raika nodded. "Yes. Rayku and I have covered almost every possible situation that might occur under different circumstances. We prepared for as much as we can, but nothing ever goes as planned when dealing with a person like Orochimaru."

"So this is your task." Rayku was speaking now. "You will go the Pelilent Village and meet Orochimaru by the on the bridge by the waterfall that is north of the village. That is the agreed meeting spot, and you must be there exactly at twelve or a couple minutes earlier. You will meet in the middle of the bridge – not all of you, mind, only three – and the exchange will happen. As soon as you have it, quickly get off the bridge. Or attack him, if you feel you must, but escape with the scroll is more important and vitally so, once he has the information  _he_  wants. Do I make myself clear?"

The girls nodded with a serious look on their faces.

"When is this meeting?" Ino asked.

"In three days, but to reach the village it will take two from here. Tonight, you will be discussing plans and the like with Ikiara. Tomorrow you must prepare as much as possible, leaving exactly as the sun sets. You then must reach the village at two days, but with your speeds we shall not worry. Any questions?" Raika asked.

They shook their heads, and the elder kunoichi nodded, satisfied.

"Very well then. Go, and meet Ikiara."

The five nodded, dismissed, and leave the room quietly. No one notices when a spider crawls out from it's shadowy hideout after them, quite unseen, and the door swings shut.

* * *

The shinobi are tense tonight. What happens next is unknown to them, for it is not up them, but to their group leader and ultimately, the woman holding the title of Hokage, their leader. They are anxiously awaiting the news, though some try not to show it.

"Well?" Naruto whispers, unable to keep silent any longer and all eyes are fixed upon Shikamaru.

* * *

**HELP!**

**Hey, there's this InuYasha fanfiction I read a while ago, but can't find it despite my efforts. If you know the title or the link, please let me know!**

**Sum: Basically, Kikyou, Sango, and Kagome are three sisters in a company (poss. Miko Tama?). Sesshomaru, Inuyasha, and Miroku are three brothers in a company (poss. Shikon Demon?) The two companies/family have been rivals since elementary/middle/high school/college, business etc. They absolutely detest each other. In the last chapter I read of it (I don't know if it updated or not since it's been a while) said the six of them were at a party of some sort (celebration?) and Sesshomaru and Kikyou were engaged in a staring contest (that ended with a tie?), and I think Inuyasha, Kagome, Sango, Miroku were cheering them on or something… The pairings are SessKik, MirSan, and InuKag.**

**Anyways, if you could find out for me, it would be totally awesome. And a task deserves a reward, so if the story I'm looking was posted/sent from you, then I will give you a prize.**

**This prize is: a) A NEW CHAPTER OF THIS FANFICTION THE KUNOICHIS THAT DIDN'T BELONG, or b) A ONE-SHOT WITH YOUR CHOICE OF CHARACTERS FROM NARUTO OR INUYASHA WITH ANY PAIRINGS OR SCENARIO YOU WANT. (Other series are allowed also, but only if I know it, so run it by me if you win and don't want an Inuyasha or Naruto one-shot.)**

**You may send the story link or title to me via REVIEW or PRIVATE MESSAGE (PM). This is open for as long as until I find the story, so please don't hesitate! Thank you!**

**Ok, so I want to thank those of you who reviewed to the last chapter of this story. It means a lot to me and I'm glad that you enjoy my story so much. I apologize for this short chapter, but be reassured for another update in a week. Hopefully, that will not be as short, because with the 19th chapter, the plot will start to unravel/be revealed, and sadly for you readers, the story may come to an end. (Yes, as you may have guessed, Orochimaru is a key factor.) But please keep reading anyways, and support me and this fic until the very end.**

**Thank you to you all, and please don't forget to review. Thanks!**


	19. Chapter 19

**The Kunoichis That Didn't Belong Ch. 19**

**Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN NARUTO!**

* * *

Recap:  _"In three days, but to reach the village it will take two from here. Tonight, you will be discussing plans and the like with Ikiara. Tomorrow you must prepare as much as possible, leaving exactly as the sun sets. You then must reach the village at two days, but with your speeds we shall not worry. Any questions?"_

_No one notices when a spider crawls out from it's shadowy hideout after them, quite unseen, and the door swings shut._

_The shinobi are tense tonight. What happens next is unknown to them, for it is not up them, but to their group leader and ultimately, the woman holding the title of Hokage, their leader. They are anxiously awaiting the news, though some try not to show it._

" _Well?" Naruto whispers, unable to keep silent any longer and all eyes are fixed upon Shikamaru._

* * *

**Time: Night—9:00 pm**

**Place: Unknown**

Shikamaru looks at the faces of his comrades surrounding him. They only knew Orochimaru was going to be involved, but they did not know the plans the kunoichi had made. Besides him, only Sai and Shino knew, and it would not be easy to keep this from the rest of them.

Nor did he intend to.

But he needed a plan, needed to know the facts, and needed something from the inside point of view.

He was definitely  _not_  going to tell them without one, and certainly  _not_  before getting Tsunade-sama's reply.

Sai had left on his own ink design, soon after listening to the battle plans of the kunoichi, with a message to their village leader from Shikamaru that would tell the Hokage  _exactly_  what the shinobi had found out. All he had to do was get her reply and orders and then come straight back to Shikamaru.

He hoped that Tsunade-sama would give her answer as soon as possible, for he needed Sai to return so he could more accurately plan and analyze his forming strategies.

"Shikamaru!"

Shikamaru rolled his eye to look at the impatient Naruto. "I'm thinking, Naruto."

"Well, can't you think any faster? I thought you called us here because you already have a plan or something!" Naruto exclaimed. "They said  _Orochimaru!_ "

Shikamaru glared at him. "I am  _well aware_  of that fact, Naruto. And if I may remind you—cool heads are required for this mission. If you cannot handle it then I will send you back to the village,  _is that clear_?" His voice had taken on a coldness quite like that of the three present prodigies (Sasuke, Gaara, and Neji) when provoked into a foul mood, and Naruto grew quiet at the threat, having gotten a reminder of the consequences.

"Good." Shikamaru exhaled. "Alright. Yes. Orochimaru was mentioned. And a ninja as dangerous as him promotes this minor mission to a rank of A or S-class. We'll need to know exactly  _why_  this organization is dealing with Orochimaru and follow the outcome of any meeting that follows this day. I'm informed that there  _may_  be a meeting of some sort. We should be prepared to switch our focus and priorities. Gaara, Neji, Sasuke, Naruto, Shino. I know this assignment is important to you because you want to find out about the kunoichis, as this is your and our primary objective.

However, with Orochimaru's involvement, this changes our objective and mission. He is a dangerous ninja and we must find out any detail, no matter how minor, of what he is planning.

I have already let Tsunade-sama know of this. Anything she returns or sends will hopefully come soon." He paused. "Any questions?"

Naruto opened his mouth to talk immediately, but Sasuke beat him to it.

"What are we going to do if we go encounter Orochimaru?"

"Good question. Undoubtedly I will have a plan prepared for any battle we may have to engage in. However, it is quite likely that he developed some new techniques, so be on your guard."

Neji spoke after Shikamaru.

"What do we do if we encounter the kunoichi?" he inquired.

"I'm not quite sure yet." The genius admitted.

"Do we follow Orochimaru straight away or wait for reinforcements?" Shino asked.

"We will most likely have to split up—one group to stay as back up while the other goes inside. However, I would rather wait for Tsunade-sama's decision first." Shikamaru replied.

Gaara spoke after Shikamaru, making Naruto frown with frustration.

"Do the kunoichi have some sort of plan to engage into battle with Orochimaru?"

Shikamaru blinked. Gaara was right on the mark of questions to ask. "We have to investigate further."

Naruto spoke now, as everyone had gone earlier, interrupting him in the process.

"When is this meeting going to happen?"

The shinobi looked at Naruto, surprised at a good question from the loud-mouth.

Shikamaru looked at him, debating what he should say. He saw the fierce glint of determination in Naruto's eyes and said only one word.

"Soon."

* * *

The figure drops silently down atop the long building, his ink creature dissolving into swirls of black-and-white color that disintegrated in the air. He knocks on the glass pane of a window of a well-lit room and enters after the person inside admits his entry upon recognition.

"Sai, what are you doing here? Have you got anything to report?" The blonde-haired woman asked, looking up from her desk at the pale-faced male beside her assistant and pet pig.

Sai stepped forward and handed the Hokage a slender scroll. "This is what we found out of the kunoichis and their plans."

She took the offered scroll and opened it, beginning to read. Shizune maneuvers to stand behind her, anxiously reading along. The black-haired assistant stifles a gasp while the Hokage's eyebrows scrunch together as she frowns.

Closing it, she looks at Sai. "Is every word on this scroll true?"

"It is."

Tsunade rubbed her forehead.

"What are you orders or advice, Hokage-sama? Shikamaru requires a response immediately, and I plan to return as soon as I have your message."

"Very well. Shizune!"

"H-Hai!" Shizune quickly hands Tsunade a blank paper and then hurriedly clear away some papers on the desk.

Tsunade begins to write, and in five minutes, she finished her message. She rolled it up tight before handing it over to Sai, who accepted it and put it in his pouch. He turned to go, but she spoke, so he turned back to face her.

"And, before you go," Tsunade stared straight at Sai. "Tell me. Are you in need of reinforcements?"

Sai considers, then responds with a smile. "It . . . would seem best to do so." He went and leapt out of the window, flying away on another ink creation specifically designed for long-distanced speed.

* * *

Shikamaru turns as a figure drops down from the sky silently to the forest floor behind him; hours after the others have fallen asleep. "Well?" he asks.

Sai only hands him the scroll as a response and Shikamaru takes it, opening it immediately to scan its contents under the moon's white glare.

After for what seemed like ages, Shikamaru closes the scroll. "I see." He turns to his left, and said, "You can come out, Shino."

The bug-user stepped out from the shadows of the trees and onto the green grass with a tint of white.

"What has Tsunade-sama said?"

The genius shakes his head. "I have a plan. But…" his head swiveled to face the ANBU shinobi. "What did  _you_  tell her?"

"…Only that it would be best to send some reinforcements." The shinobi gave a smile.

* * *

 **Guess what? You may now applaud the return of long-ish chapters! However, this means that updates will not go on by a week to week basis. Thanks to all of you who reviewed, and to** WolfGirl **because the chapter I uploaded on her birthday was by far waaay to short. I'm pleased to see this story making progress and I hope that you've enjoyed reading it this far.**

**Don't forget to R &R!**


	20. Chapter 20

**The Kunoichis That Didn't Belong Ch. 20**

**Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN NARUTO!**

* * *

Recap:  _"When is this meeting going to happen?"_

_The shinobi looked at Naruto, surprised at a good question from the loud-mouth._

_Shikamaru looked at him, debating what he should say. He saw the fierce glint of determination in Naruto's eyes and said only one word._

" _Soon."_

" _I have a plan. But…" his head swiveled to face the ANBU shinobi. "What did you tell her?"_

"… _Only that it would be best to send some reinforcements." The shinobi gave a smile._

* * *

**Time: 7:00 pm**

**Place: On the Road**

**Date: Two Days from Meeting**

The shinobi ran swiftly and silently, careful not to step on anything that could cause noise, not even a leaf floating downwards was permitted, for they could not become discovered.

It was the day after Shikamaru had told his team about Orochimaru. After he had received Tsunade's orders, the genius began to outline another one of his plans.

Just hours before, Shikamaru had alerted the team that the kunoichi were going to leave that night; they were to follow. Sai on the other hand, would be staying here at the village to continue correspondence with the Hokage and to alert them of any changes that Rayku and Raika might make.

Privately, Shikamaru and Shino knew that Sai would join the group soon after receiving the reinforcements promised by the Hokage. However, like the information he had found out, Shikamaru too, had withheld this from the group.

' _The time isn't right_.' The genius deterred. But he had a feeling that it would come soon. After all, they would need to know sooner or later. And with the meeting coming up in two days, he knew that it would be soon.

"Pst!"

It was a quiet whisper, and Shikamaru held still, for looking ahead, he could see that the kunoichi had stopped.

"What are they doing?" Naruto whispers—they are far away enough from the kunoichi and he is close enough to Shikamaru to allow this—trying to keep his voice as quiet as possible.

"Not sure, but keep guard. Neji?"

"I'm already on it." The Hyuuga replies, already a step ahead in the activation of his Byakugan.

He scans the area, using his vision to go closer to the kunoichi, and his voice was quiet when he spoke.

"I see them… there's a map…" his voice drifted off into silence as he magnified his vision more.

* * *

The kunoichi huddled together in a semi-circle, all heads bent toward the map and studying it with great care.

"Here." A slender finger landed on the map, pointing. "We should be here." Temari placed her hands on her hips.

"If so…" Sakura quickly and carefully calculated inside her head. "…then we should be halfway there!"

"And with some time to spare." Ino said with a grin.

"Yeah, I bet they didn't expect us to go that quickly." TenTen agreed.

"Hold on a minute!" Hinata said, catching their attention. "Don't you remember that Bear Mountain Pass is booby-trapped everywhere? It was meant to slow down any invaders and such."

The four looked at Hinata, and Ino frowned. "She's right." The blonde turned her head to look at the others. "What'll we do?"

Temari shook her head with disbelief. "You make it sound like such a problem. As if we haven't gone through such traps before." But before the pinkette, platinum blonde, indigo-haired, and the brunette could say anything more, she continued. "But…you're right. These traps could hinder us from reaching the meeting place in time."

"Unless….we were meant to have good time, and after passing the Mountain we would be set back by what was expected?" Sakura asked, thinking out loud.

They looked at her, and TenTen looked thoughtful. "Yes… that could be it…."

Hinata said, "Didn't Ikiara go over what to do when we hit this route?"

"Yes, she did." Ino replied.

Temari stepped back away from the group. "Alright. While you discuss this,  _I'm_  going up into air to observe if Bear Mountain Pass is the only way. Oh, and don't worry. I'll make sure I'm too high for the motion sensors to pick up my presence." She added and snapped open her Three-Mooned Fan all the way, making it hover and hopping onto it.

The wind around them flowed gently, before swiftly gathering up, soon blowing strongly with Temari now high up into the sky, with only the white of her fan giving away to her location.

"Be careful!" Ino called as the former Suna-kunoichi sped away.

"Right…now let's consult the map." Sakura declared.

* * *

Neji withdrew from his Byakugan and looked at the others. Gaara's aqua green eyes were solely focused on the white fan that had sped away into the air. Shino, Sasuke, and Naruto were looking at the girls on the ground. Shikamaru, he saw, was also looking at them, but Neji could tell the genius was also watching him, most obviously waiting for more information.

"Well?"

"They've stopped because of Bear Mountain Pass." Neji quietly recounted what happened, and the Nara nodded when he was finished.

"Shino," he said, turning to face the bug user. "What do you hear?"

His dark glasses were hidden by more shadow from the shade as the bug-user looked at them. "What Neji said and a little bit more."

The genius nodded. "I see."

Naruto tugged on Sasuke's sleeve, slightly pointing. "Look!" he hissed, and the Uchiha's obsidian eyes followed his gaze. The kunoichi were moving away.

"Guys." He said, and they turned to look. "Do we follow?"

* * *

Temari had not yet returned, but Sakura had discovered a short-cut on the map. "Look!" she cried. "If we go through Bee's Lair we can get onto the middle of Bear Mountain Pass instead of climbing up all that way."

They studied it, curiously.

"She's right. Or it seems that way." TenTen said. "Hinata," the indigo-haired kunoichi turned in her direction. "What do we know about Bee's Lair?"

The Hyuuga fixed her eyes on TenTen with a quiet stare. "The course is far more dangerous than that of Bear Mountain Pass. Where the Pass merely has deadly human-made booby-traps and poisons, the Lair has genetically-enhanced mutant bees."

". . . Well, it's only a couple of bees…. I'm sure they're so huge that we wouldn't be seen!" Ino stated nervously with a slight laugh.

"But, what about Temari?" TenTen asked.

"We can call her over the communicator… here, let me do it." Ino clicked on her headset. "Hello, Temari?"

Temari's buzzing voice could be heard back over the set, the wind also audible. **"What now?"** she asked, gruffly.

"We think that maybe going through Bee's Lair toward the forest would be a faster route than going through Bear Mountain Pass."

**". . . . What?"**

"You know, it's shorter maybe."

**"And what about me?"**

"We'll meet you there at the other end!"

**". . . . Are you sure about this?"**

"Um, not completely, but it  _does_  beat climbing up that huge mountain. Unlike you,  _we_  cannot fly."

**". . . And what do the others say to this, Ino?"**

"Oh, they think it's great!" Ino replied in a chirpy voice, but after seeing Hinata and TenTen's frowning faces, added "Well, except for Hinata and TenTen, but you know. You could always watch out for us from above."

 **". . . Consider that Hinata's ex-team has a bug-user. Won't it be a better idea to listen to _her_  and see what she has to say about this?"** The ex-Suna kunoichi's voice had an audible tone of impatience and annoyance in it.

"Well…"

 **"Whatever. I'm gonna keep going. Contact me later if anything else comes up. This means _all of you_."**  The com-link turned off and Ino turned to the others.

"Well?"

* * *

As Sasuke and the others carefully followed the kunoichi, the Uchiha noticed they were getting nowhere near the Bear Mountain Pass.

He nudged Shino, and when the Aburame turned to him, he asked, "What did they say?"

". . . " Shino stated plainly, "They're going to Bee's Lair as a shortcut path."

". . . " If Sasuke remembered correctly…. "Isn't that where giant genetically-enhanced bees are at?"

Shino nodded, and Sasuke blinked. "Who suggested it and why?"

"Sakura and Ino. I'm guessing they've found a shorter way to get to the Pass without climbing up on the map and decided to take the chance. However, it's also possible that they don't consider the reality of gigantic mutant bees existing." He added the sentence after a thought.

". . . What did Hinata say about it?" The Uchiha asked, remembering the Hyuuga's cousin as one of the missing and the ex-teammate of the bug-user and the dog-keeper.

". . . Well, she was practical about it. Gigantic genetically-enhanced mutant bees are nothing to laugh at or joke around with. The possibly of their existence is probably around 80 percent." He stared at the Uchiha's confused face, and asked, "What did Orochimaru specialize in?"

"Experimentation." Sasuke said, realizing a second later that maybe the bees and the Sannin was connected, since, after all, they were on the path to meet him.

"Exactly." Shino said. "With ninja like Orochimaru running around the planet doing dozens of uncounted and unknown experiments, the possibilities of creating mutant bees are entirely probable." He pointed out bluntly.

"Also, there was a time when Team Eight and Naruto encountered a bug-user clan like my family. However, that clan focused especially on bees. This was one of the missions that was supposed one of the ways that would help find and bring you back." Shino told the Uchiha evenly.

Sasuke stayed silent.

* * *

"Alright. We're now entering the Bee's Lair. Stay close." Shikamaru ordered, and they all nodded.

* * *

**Alright this is chapter 20! Sorry for the wait. Please read and review! Oh, and since yesterday was the New Years, I hope the year brings luck to all of you! Oh, and Valentine's Day too. Thanks for reading! Hope to update soon!**


	21. Running from the Giant Mutant Bees

**The Kunoichis That Didn't Belong Ch. 21**

**Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN NARUTO!**

* * *

Recap:  _"Alright. We're now entering the Bee's Lair. Stay close." Shikamaru ordered, and they all nodded._  

* * *

**Time: 9:00 pm**

**Place: Bee's Lair**

**Date: Two Days from Meeting**

"Ohmygodohmygodohmygodwe'regonnadienonononono!" A blonde ran through the trees, pleading for her life out loud with tears in her eyes.

"Why the hell did we listen to you?!" The pinkette of the group cried, angrily.

"Get a grip—we have to get away before those …  _things_  catch up to us!" The brunette shouted.

"Yelling won't help either!" The indigo-haired girl called out.

"Any ideas then?" The pinkette asked.

"We'll have to split up, I think. And then trap them." The indigo-haired girl replied.

"Alright. Ino, yell a lot and keep running. The three of us will go left, one by one discreetly. You buy time for us while we set up a trap. Then we'll wait by the tree, and one of us will fetch you to lead them that way." Sakura instructed.

"Whaaat?! Why me?" Ino cried.

Sakura felt a vein on her forehead twitch. "Because you're the one who made us do this, pig!"

"Also, there's the lucky coincidence that you work around flowers so you smell like flowers, and since your hair is yellow, you can pretend it's pollen." Hinata said with a smile.

Ino turned a disbelieving look her way. "What? Hinata, what are you saying?"

"Go for it Ino! We're rootin' for you!" TenTen took the time to punch a fist into the air as she ran.

"Gah! Not you too, TenTen!" Ino cried.

All she got in reply were three evil smiles, and wailed in her mind. ' _They're angry at me, I just know it!'_

She watched as the girls stop running and cleverly hid themselves from the gigantic mutant bees that were chasing them. The bees didn't notice as planned and kept chasing Ino whose job was to keep running.

' _Although, if you ask me, TenTen should be running since she has more stamina than me. I'm just supposed to enter people's minds, not run like hell from bees!'_  Ino thought as she ran, never minding that her thought didn't make sense.

' _Oh, why did this happen?!'_

**~*Flashback*~**

" _Wow, the forest here is pretty dense." TenTen commented as they pushed their way through the leaves of the surrounding trees._

" _Yeah, I know. Oh, look! There's a path." Ino pointed. "Let's check it out."_

" _I don't know…" Sakura said uncertainly, with Hinata nodding in agreement beside her._

" _Come on, what if it's a way out?" The blonde walked onto the path, leaving the others no choice but to follow._

_-1 hour later-_

" _Ugh! My feet ache!" Sakura complained as they walked along the long-winding dirt path. "Ino we're going around in circles!"_

" _This is just a long trip, that's all!" The blonde said._

" _Maybe we should contact Temari." Hinata said, unsure._

" _Nonsense!" Ino exclaimed. "Look! There's a cave!" Ino dashed ahead as a fairly large-looking cave came into sight._

" _Ino, wait!"_

_The other three rushed to catch up with the blonde kunoichi who had rushed inside before suddenly returning to a stop at the entrance._

" _Ugh, what's wrong?" Sakura asked._

" _Hinata, do bees live in caves?" Ino asked, not looking at them._

_Hinata's expression became confused. "Huh? Um, no I don't think so… Why?"_

" _I think we've just found our mutant bees." Ino said, nervously, and the others turned to peer inside the cave._

_Their jaws dropped open._

" _Oh crap."_

**~*End Flashback*~**

' _Oh, me and my big mouth!'_  Ino cursed herself mentally as she ran.  _'Guys, please hurry!'_

* * *

"You have a very interesting ex-teammate, Shikamaru." Sasuke commented as they ran.

"Shut up Uchiha." The genius replied, also running.

The shinobi had been trailing the kunoichi silent and unnoticed. However, an hour inside the forest, a certain platinum-blonde kunoichi just so happened to stop at a gigantic cave. One that could only have housed  _gigantic mutant bees_.

And now, the shinobi were separated from the kunoichi, running from the bees for their lives.

"Any ideas, Shikamaru?" Naruto called out. He was only able to be so loud because the drone of bee wings and bees in general drowned out any human voice from a distance. Shikamaru had also forbade the use of clones since the clones might run into the kunoichi who were not allowed to know they were there.

"No, not yet." Shikamaru replied. "Shino?"

"I'm working on it." The bug-user stated.

"Can I just burn them?" Sasuke asked as he ran.

"No, the light from the fire could possibly ignite the forest and kill everything here. Also, the kunoichi may become alerted of our presence." Shikamaru replied.

Sasuke frowned, disappointed, and crossed out suggesting Chidori in his mind.

"Neji, what do you see?" Gaara asked.

The Hyuuga's Byakugan was activated and he replied, "Only trees, couple of trees, no kunoichi … RIGHT!"

The others started, but followed the shinobi as he took the lead, swiftly swerving right.

"Neji, what's wrong?" Naruto asked, behind the Hyuuga.

"Bees." Shino replied calmly from behind Naruto, and the spiked-blonde turned his head back to look at the bug-user.

"Wha? Wait, so bugs were there?" the loud-mouth asked.

"Yes. Gigantic bees to be precise. They were directly in front of our path and are now re-joining the swarm in chasing us." Neji replied.

-10 minutes later-

"God, can't we have a break?!" Naruto cried. They were ahead of the bees by at least 15 meters.

"No, they're still chasing us." Gaara replied, without a backward glance.

A vein on Sasuke's forehead twitched. "When can we fight back?"

"Now." Shino's voice stood out at the shinobi, and they stopped in their tracks.

"Wha—" Naruto was interrupted by Shino who was swiftly giving out orders.

"We're going to fight back, but discreetly. We'll have to split up. Gaara, Neji, and Naruto on one team. Sasuke, me, and Shikamaru on the other. Gaara's group will continue to be chased. However, you will also use objects to slow the bees down. Yes, Gaara you can use sand, but only to attack from below. Remember, this is a forest, not a desert, and Temari is still up in the air above us."

Gaara, Neji, and Naruto nodded.

"My team will set up a trap for the bees. You will lure the bees towards us and we'll detain them long enough for us to get away. Once we clear the forest we'll be alright because the bees have never once exited their territory. Any questions?"

Naruto waved his hand. "Can I use my bunshins?"

". . . I'd prefer if you didn't." Shino replied.

"Where will you be?" Neji asked.

"I'm not sure yet, but we'll contact you when we're done. Most likely in that area." Shino waved a hand vaguely to his right, and the Hyuuga nodded. "When we give you the signal, lure them over there. But until then, keep them away."

"I think they're coming." Gaara said.

Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Shino moved away to the right, getting off the path, while the other three stood there in the middle of the road, waiting.

* * *

"Hah! Can't catch us!" Naruto called out to the hordes of bees coming their way.

Gaara was ready with his sand to throw over the mutants.

Neji was counting the minutes toward their arrival—at the distance of twelve yards, they would begin their attack. "Eighteen minutes at the range fifteen yards . . . Twenty-five minutes at the range eleven yards . . . Prepare your attacks—launch in two minutes!" Although Neji knew they were supposed to have attacked at twelve yards, he thought it would be better for the bees to come closer to them, closing the distance between hitting and missing.

At two minutes, the mutant bees were now at the range of ten yards.

"Damn those things are fast!" Naruto muttered, and began to throw some kunai at them, testing if the armor of the bees were pierce-able.

But the kunai just bounced off harmlessly, and Naruto stopped throwing. Gaara's sand was steadily moving on the ground, unnoticed by the bees. Soon, there was sand all over the path, the browns blending together and mixing as they churned. At Gaara's signal, the sand flew upwards, and with a flick of his wrist, the sand wrapped itself like a blanket over the bees. A moment later, no bees could be seen.

"Yeah!" Naruto shouted.

"Wait!" Neji peered through the sand with his eyes. "They're still alive. And doing something."

Gaara was about to say something when a bee broke through the sand.

"What the-!" Naruto exclaimed.

The bee made a very loud, droning noise, and the three shinobi covered their ears, wincing from the ultrasonic noise.

The noise continued for about a minute, before all of a sudden stopping, and the bee that made it dropped motionlessly onto the sand.

"What was that?" Naruto asked.

Neji activated his Byakugan again. "Gaara, Naruto. The other bees aren't moving."

". . ." The red-head began to retract his sand. Doing so revealed the other mutant bodies.

"Whoa, they're dead? Just like that?" Naruto exclaimed. He walked over to the bodies cautiously, examining them.

"Be careful Naruto." Neji called. "We aren't sure if they're all dead."

"What was that?" asked Gaara, and the other two looked at him, confused.

"What do you mean Gaara?" Naruto asked.

Gaara held up a hand, scanning the area around them. "Listen." He said.

At that, Neji began to scan the area as well, and Naruto stared back and forth at the both of them.

Then, Gaara stopped scanning the area, his eyes intently on one direction. Noticing the change, Neji and Naruto also faced that direction. Something black in the distance was moving towards them, getting closer and closer.

"They're coming."

* * *

"Do you see them yet?" Sakura asked as she tied the vines together tightly, in the processes of making a large net for capturing the bees.

"No, nothing yet." Hinata replied, eyes scanning the area around them.

TenTen was busy tying some of her stringed weapons onto the trees around the area they had designated for trapping the gigantic mutant bees. The kunoichi bit her lip as she fastened weapon after weapon onto the trees. She wished she had more information about the mutant bees so she could figure out which weapon would be most effective against them. Unfortunately, even with Hinata having a bug-user on her ex-team, she didn't know a lot about gigantic mutant bees.

"Ok, done!" Sakura announced, dusting her hands. "Should we contact Temari now?"

Hinata nodded. "I'll contact her. Keep an eye out for the bees and Ino, okay Sakura?"

"Roger that." Sakura climbed up a tree and started to scan the area around them.

"Hello? Temari? Can you hear me? It's Hinata."

" **Ah, Hinata. Not Ino then. What's up?"**

Hinata proceeded to fill in the ex-Suna kunoichi of their situation. "And now we're building traps for Ino to lead the bees here."

" **. . . What? She did what? And you're . . . ugh! That damned blonde!"**  Temari's curses could be heard loud and clear to the Hyuuga.

Hinata chuckled. "But you're blonde too, Temari. And that's the situation right now."

" **Alright, alright then. What do you want me to do about it?"**  Temari asked.

"Well, for starters, where are you now?" Hinata asked.

" **Me? Above, and that's waay above, the Bear Mountain Pass. And by the way, that pass is really, really long."**

"Well, we're in the forest right now. From where you are, do you see any bees?"

Temari looked down below.  **"Well no. I'm too high to see anything but color below me. I'll have to go lower to see if I'm near you guys. Should I?"**

"No, not if you think that it'll make you a target to the lasers and such in the Mountain."

" **No, I can go down closer. Tell me if you see me in the skies, Hinata."** Temari flew down lower.

Hinata glanced upwards. "Nope. You're nowhere near us."

" **Do you think you can take care of the situation?"**

"Yeah, I think we can."

" **If that's the case, then there's no need for me to go below. Contact me if anything happens."**  Temari said, and turned her fan upwards.

"Will do." Hinata ended the communication.

"Well? What did she say?" Sakura asked, calling from where she was.

"To contact her if we need it. Do you see them yet Sakura?"

"No, not yet." The pinkette resumed her task of watching the area.

"TenTen, have you finished?" Hinata asked.

"Yes, I'm done now." The brunette replied and dropped down from her tree.

"Good. I think we should take our positions. The bees are coming and Ino with them." Sakura announced.

* * *

The blonde ran and ran, eyes darting to see where her teammates were. She seriously couldn't handle running anymore—she felt her stamina running out already, as she had run for an hour already. Suddenly though, a glint caught her eye and she ran towards it, knowing it was her team.

Running through, she felt herself getting lifted by two hands upwards into the trees. Ino struggled for a minute but the voice of TenTen came. "Stop struggling Ino, and start going right to Hinata! You have enough stamina for that right? The bees are advancing!"

Ino quickly darted to where the Hyuuga of the team was. "Hinata!"

"Ah, Ino, there you are. Quickly, when the signal from Sakura comes, cut these ropes!" Hinata gestured beside her and Ino nodded in understanding.

"Now!" Sakura cried.

At her signal, Hinata and Ino both simultaneously cut the ropes, and grey weapons were released upon the bees. Although the weapons hit the targets, they did not stay—instead it only bounced off of the bees' armor uselessly like rubber.

Ino gasped. "It didn't take the bees down!"

Hinata gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Ino. It's TenTen's turn now. We still have a couple things to set on the bees after Sakura."

"Ok, let's see." Ino turned to watch what would happen next.

TenTen bit her lip as she watched the kunai bounce off the bees one after another. "Tch!" TenTen moved her right arm and cut off an entire row of strings beside her. This released her set of weapons down upon the mutant insects. Attached to her projectiles were very strong ropes that fell onto the bees. The ropes had been fashioned into a net-like pattern with her weapons and dug tightly into the earth. However, knowing this would not detain the creatures, TenTen watched as the insects struggled to straggle forward.

At this point, Sakura released her own set of vines down upon the bees. True, vines would be no match against them. However, attached to the vines were special needles that Sakura had acquired in her training at the Hidden Grass Village in the Grass Country. Those needles were placed in the knot of every intersection of the crossing vines made into a net, and had a special dosage of tranquilizer in it.

Sakura watched as the vine net fell onto the bees and successfully pin down the bees onto the ground.

"Yes! The bees are down!" Sakura cheered.

"Great!" Ino watched as Hinata and TenTen jumped down from the trees and approached the bees carefully, with the blonde fearfully waiting for the bees to wake up.

But they did not, and her teammates were able to approach with ease.

"Mmhm. Yep. They're knocked out cold." Hinata de-activated her Byakugan eyes.

TenTen nodded. "Good work Hinata. Now let's get out of here before they wake up!"

Ino and Sakura dropped down from the trees, and helped their teammates clean up the mess, with Sakura, TenTen, and Hinata retrieving their weapons.

"Ok, that way!"

* * *

"Gah! There's no end to these bees!" Naruto cried, running. The bees had come after the shinobi, and in force after Gaara had defeated ten with his sand. "When can we get to them?"

"Almost Naruto. We still have to weaken them some more first." Neji replied.

"What's that?" Gaara asked, and their attention diverged onto the glowing thing coming towards them. Going closer, they discovered that it was a firefly . . . or was it? No, it was Shino's Kikaichū bugs glowing in the dark, telling them to follow it.

"Let's go."

* * *

"Now, Shikamaru?" Sasuke asked, and the genius shook his head.

"No, not yet. But I see them. Get ready." Shikamaru prepared his weapons and reviewed the plan once more in his head. The bees were in sight, a dark cloud chasing after his three teammates and getting closer with every single step…

"Now!" Shino announced loudly as Neji, Naruto, and Gaara burst through the foliage of the leaves. A cloud of bugs carried the three shinobi and Shino away to the left, leaving the bees to continue to fly straight forward and towards Sasuke and Shikamaru.

Upon hearing Shino's signal, Sasuke let loose his Fuuma Shuriken upon the bees, cutting their bodies in half with ease. Of course, fighting mutant bees weren't as simple as that, and some of them survived the Uchiha's attack. After his Fuuma Shuriken Sasuke let fly a barrage of smaller shuriken onto the bees.

Shikamaru then cast his shadow-jutsu to bind the bees in place. Once that was done, Shino's bugs flew towards the bees, clouding the insects from their sight. Shino, Gaara, Neji, and Naruto landed on the ground. Two minutes later, Shino's bugs briefly lifted from the bees. At this point, Gaara cast sand onto the giant bees, throwing sand into their eyes, and Shino's bugs descended onto the bees once more, covering them.

* * *

"Alright. They're paralyzed." Shino stated to his teams as his bugs retreated from the giant bodies.

"What! You mean you didn't kill them?" Naruto exclaimed with surprise.

"No, to kill them would be quite unnecessary." Shino replied.

"But what if we have to come through here again? I'll like to walk through the path the next time around, if you don't mind."

"So would I. But the chance that we come back through this path chasing the enemy is very, very likely, and if so, we can use these insects to our advantage as they can provide distraction to the enemy."

"Oh."

"Enough talk already!" The shinobi turned to Sasuke. "Let's get out of here."

* * *

The two parties, kunoichi and shinobi, traversed through the forest path, quite unaware of each other since they had separated during the bee chase.

Bursting through the undergrowth of the forest, they came out of the forest onto clear skies and their feet touched the rocky gravel of a mountain.

The kunoichis were on the North side of the mountain, the peak approximately thirty meters away from them.

The shinobi were behind the kunoichi, back by at least thirty meters. It was quite a difference.

"Yattai! We made it!" Naruto's echo was heard among the mountains but the loud-mouth was quickly shushed by his teammates.

"Idiot! Be quiet!" they warned.

The kunoichi turned slightly, and one of them asked questioningly, "Huh? Did you guys hear something just now?"

"Hmm? Uh-uh."

"Must be a bird then."

The two groups walked forward into the clear night sky.

* * *

 **Okay, that was Chapter 21! Thanks to** sachiko haruki **,** Neguru Sucashi **, and** WolfGirl **for your reviews! Lucky for you readers that this was 8 pages long on Microsoft Word! xP**

**Well, I hope this chapter was an okay one. Please leave a review if you can! Thank you all for reading!**


	22. Second Encounter with a Giant Mutant Bee

**The Kunoichis That Didn't Belong Ch. 22**

**Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN NARUTO!**

* * *

Recap:  _The two groups walked forward into the clear night sky._

* * *

**Time: 1:00 am**

**Place: Bear Mountain Pass**

**Date: One Day from Meeting**

On the pass of Bear Mountain were the kunoichi, walking down the road in the middle, taking care to avoid any hidden traps around them.

"Everywhere, Ikiara said?" Sakura asked, eyes roaming, tiredly. It had been one hour since they had arrived on the mountain pass, and started walking towards their destination. However, they had not seen nor been attacked by a single weapon of any sort yet. Sakura began to wonder whether the traps were bluffs created by people wanting tourists.

"Well, the guide to the mountain that we looked at said that too." Ino said, shrugging, but on guard nevertheless. The blonde kunoichi had learned her lesson of running off with ideas on her own. If something happened, only Ino would be blamed for not learning from her mistake.

"Look!" Pointing upwards, the rest of the kunoichi followed Hinata's outstretched arm to a white speck in the sky. "It's Temari!"

* * *

Temari flew down from the sky towards the moving figures below, the pink-haired bob the easiest to spot in the moonlight, as well as the platinum blonde one.

As she flew lower and lower, the wind picked up and carried her upwards. Temari was stunned for moment, before fighting the wind to go lower. It was strange, because whenever she was on her fan, the wind was the companion with her, not against, unless it was in enemy combat.

That thought fled her when her ears heard the unmistakable  _thud_  of a kunai hitting the ground. Looking from where the kunai came from, Temari noticed the path of the kunai and realized suddenly, that had it not been for the wind carrying her upwards despite her desire to go down, the kunai would have torn through her fan, leaving a nasty and wide gash on it.

With a frown, Temari turned her fan upwards. It looked like she would be riding the winds for a while longer this night.

* * *

"Eh? Is she coming down?" Sakura peered anxiously upwards at the figure in the sky.

"No, it doesn't seem like it . . ." Hinata said, also looking. The white speck in the sky that was their teammate started to ascend back into the night sky, and four kunoichi wore confused expressions.

"Down!" TenTen's shout came from nowhere, and the others bent down quickly after a moment.

Ten spears flew over the girls, and would have impaled or wounded them had they not ducked in time.

When a minute passed with no immediate attack after the flying spears, the kunoichi cautiously stood up.

"Where did they come from?" Ino asked, walking over to TenTen who had recovered first and was now crouched over, studying the ground intently.

"Over there, most likely." The brunette pointed to the direction where Ino had come from, and the blonde glanced back once before focusing in front her once more.

"So what are you looking at?"

The brunette shook her head vigorously. "Not looking.  _Testing_." She emphasized the last word, but Ino didn't quite grasp what it  _meant_. TenTen shook her head at Ino's confusion. "I'll tell you later. Check up on Hinata."

"Huh? Hinata?" Ino straightened and turned to look in Hinata's direction. The indigo-haired girl was standing still and upright, not moving. Walking over, Ino came to the side where she could see the younger girl's face, and found herself staring at the bulging vein of the Byakugan's activation.

"Hinata-chan, what is it? Do you see anything?" Ino asked worriedly.

Hinata shook her head. "Nope, nothing yet as far as I can see, which is about 40 meters already."

"Where are you looking at?" Ino asked.

"To the left and in front of us." Hinata responded.

Tenten stood, and turned to them. "Not to break your bubble guys, but where's Sakura?"

The two looked at TenTen before anxiously scanning the area around them.

* * *

"Ah, they're so far ahead of us!" Naruto said as he walked with his team on the pass.

"That's good Naruto, so they don't see us." Shino replied.

"But, its strange how there haven't been any traps or weapons attacking us or them." said Gaara. "Isn't this place infamous for that kind of thing?"

Shikamaru nodded. "According to them, it is. So we should still be on our guard. Neji, do you see anything? And, can they see us?" he asked, specifically meaning Hinata.

Neji shook his head. "No, as far as I can tell, there isn't anything, which is strange. Also, it may be best if we also have some cover. Hinata-sama has been gone for three years and we don't know how much training she has gone through. She may be able to cover farther distances with her Byakugan, so we have to be careful."

"Hyuuga, isn't there a technique that blocks other Byakugan users from seeing us?" Sasuke asked.

Neji nodded. "Yes, it was recently developed by the clan so she shouldn't know about it yet. I've already used it, and it will last for four more hours at least."

"Good." Sasuke said, then suddenly asked, "What's that?" He pointed into the sky up ahead.

Everyone looked up to where the Uchiha was pointing, and squinted. A white thing was flying down . . . but then suddenly pulled upwards.

" . . . I believe that would be Temari." said Gaara who knew his sister's flight patterns as well as his own sand's patterns.

"Hey, why'd she fly upwards all of a sudden?" Naruto asked.

"And they all just threw themselves to the ground too." Sasuke stated.

"The traps are activated!" Neji said, and the kunai flew at them at the same moment he spoke.

"Jump!" The six jumped and dodged the rest of the in-coming weapons as well.

"Crap! They just activated all of a sudden!" Sasuke exclaimed.

"Dodge what you can, and keep a eye on the kunoichi!" Shikamaru ordered.

"Got it!" the others replied, and headed forward a little while dodging flying objects.

* * *

"Whew!" Naruto exhaled. "I think they finally stopped."

The six of them had been discreetly running towards the kunoichi the best that they could while dodging the flying projectiles. Out of all of the shinobi, Neji avoided the objects the best, evading them like it was second nature, without a thought and completely at ease.

"But why? And now they're searching around?" Sasuke said, confused.

"Sakura is missing." Shino stated, and the ex-teammates of the pinkette turned to him.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"She's gone." Shino repeated. "But it doesn't seem she went too far off because Ino is now walking somewhere."

"Let's follow them then." Shikamaru said.

* * *

Discovering Sakura missing made the others stunned, but only for a little bit. The three immediately cast around looking for the pinkette but to no avail. It was only after walking a mile forward that the blonde of the group spotted the missing kunoichi. Thanks to working with flowers and Sakura's hair being a certain shade, Ino was able to locate the girl quite quickly.

"There she is!" Ino pointed, and the others hurried to her.

* * *

Sakura came quickly into view, but when the others had a clear sight of her, they were confused why she was shaking her head at the sight of them.

"Sakura?" Ino asked hesitantly,

Coming nearer, they stopped when they saw the pinkette tied helplessly and dangling on a long white rope-like object from a branch.

"What the-" TenTen was cut off as a huge shadow fell onto the kunoichi, and they looked up, speechless to see a gigantic bee twice the size of the ones they had encountered on the forest.

* * *

"Good God." Neji's voice did not speak alone. With his Byakugan activated, he had a clear sight of the giant mutant bee as it towered over the kunoichi. But even from their distance, the bee was so huge that the shinobi beside him were able to witness it as well. And they too, cursed, efficiently covering up his own whisper.

"That thing is HUGE." Naruto declared with his eyes wide and stuck onto the bee.

"Can it see us?" Gaara asked, his eyes also looked onto the insect.

"I'm not sure. Bees generally do not see very far, but seeing as it is a mutant, there is no telling what kind of experimentation was used on it. Not to mention that it is bigger than all the bees we have seen." Shino replied, with his eyes behind his shades.

"Then let's keep moving." Sasuke said. "We'll have to find a way to stop it without it knowing."

* * *

Temari's eyes were wide open. "Holy shit that is one huge bee!" she cried. Yes, the bee was that big if Temari, who was currently above them all, could see the bee from where she was in the air. "I should check if they're okay." She said to herself and flew towards the giant creature.

* * *

"What is that thing?" Ino shrieked.

TenTen was getting ready to pelt the insect with her weapons, and had her scroll out at the ready, in case the bug decided to attack.

Hinata was busy using a kunai to free Sakura from her bonds. However the bonds itself was sticky and hard to break. Nevertheless, with Ino's help, Sakura managed to come free.

"Get ready to run guys!" TenTen called to them.

"Where?" Sakura asked. "That thing—It came for me out of nowhere! And, well it can fly, so it'll catch up to us."

"We have no choice, fight or run." TenTen replied, her eyes not leaving the bee.

Ino turned to Hinata. "What do you see Hinata?"

Before Hinata could reply, the bee dove at the kunoichi and the four dove for cover. Missing them, the bee hovered in the air.

"I'm looking." Hinata said, standing, and then called sharply, "Sakura!" Sakura turned suddenly toward Hinata at the mention of her name.

"What?" the pinkette asked, still watching the bee.

"We need to know if you saw something while in the capture of the bee. For instance—did you see how long the path stretched while in the air?"

Sakura paused. "Well, maybe . . ." The pinkette concentrated. "The path stretched for miles north . . . but there was a break slightly on the east . . ."

The ducked as the bee dived once more, running from it hurriedly before stopping at the foot of a tree.

"So we should go there?" Ino questioned.

Any reply by the others was cut off by Hinata who suddenly exclaimed, "Aha! I've found it!"

"Found what?" Ino and Sakura asked startled.

The Hyuuga had a grin on her face. "The weak spot of this giant bee. And the way out of this path!"

TenTen smirked. "Just tell me where to hit Hinata!" She tensed, ready to spring.

"Do you see that spot right there, on it's neck? Between the armor on the chest and the head! It's the only open spot, and though it's not much, I'm pretty sure that enough pressure will stun it enough so that you can pry off its armor! There's only fur between the chest and the armor!" Hinata was enthusiastic of her plan, and TenTen only grinned.

"You mean that it can be cut, right? You got it!" With that, TenTen summoned multiple projectiles from her scroll and with excellent accuracy, launched some towards the bee. The insect, seeing the attack, moved so that the kunai bounced harmlessly off of its armor. TenTen began to run towards the bee, throwing kunai as distraction. Ino, too, ran into the fray and helped distract the bee, trusting that TenTen would hit the weak point.

Nothing they threw seemed to be able to get close to the insect, so you know their surprise when an attack from above forced the bee downwards.

"Temari!" TenTen shouted when she glanced upwards. The ex-Suna kunoichi was floating above the bee and wielded two fans in her hands, which she used to blow at the bee with extreme force. The two in her hands were not big like her original iron fan, but it was considerably strong as she attacked the insect over and over again. Her large iron fan took her closer to her teammates below, and she waved at them from where she was.

"Thought you might need some help!" Temari shouted to them, and they grinned back at her.

Together, Temari and Ino launched duo distractions at the bee, effectively gaining its attention. TenTen was subtly hidden their attacks and launched whatever she could at its weak spot as discreetly as possible. Hinata and Sakura watched the battle while quietly discussing the direction that would lead them towards their destination.

* * *

After much attempts, they finally succeeded with their attacks, and the bee came crashing down onto the path.

"Yes!" they cried, celebrating.

"And the exit is close!" Sakura exclaimed.

They watched as Temari took off into the air, saying she would see them at the end of the path and disappearing swiftly into the distance.

Hinata opened her mouth, wanting to mention the black things that had been on the giant bee during their fight. However, the others were quite ahead of her now, and she had to catch up to them. She did a check with her Byakugan, but could find nothing. As she ran to her friends, all thoughts of the black, maybe familiar, bug-like things escaped her mind.

* * *

"They defeated it!" Naruto's voice expressed his awe.

"Yes, they did. I think we should get a sample." Shikamaru said, bending down next to the bee, and poking it. "That is, if its dead."

Shino looked at it, grimly. "No, it's alive. We should not disturb it. Also," here Shino paused. "Hinata may have noticed my insects. But I don't think she has realized what they were—In case you were wondering, they were on the bee." Shino said, probably for Naruto's benefit.

"Does she suspect we're here?" Gaara asked, and Shino shook his head.

"No, she shouldn't."

"Let's keep going then. Before they leave and we don't." Sasuke said.

* * *

"Ah! Finally!" Ino cried as they came off the mountain pass without any more mishaps.

"Yes!" Sakura said.

"Look! Temari!" Hinata pointed.

Temari grinned. "Hey guys. Glad to see you finally made it."

"Likewise." TenTen replied with a smile.

* * *

"Good, we're finally out. And they don't know we're here either." Shikamaru said as they finally exited the pass.

"God I'm tired!" Naruto exclaimed. "Can we stop for a bit?"

"Neji?" Shikamaru asked.

"I think so. They've stopped, so we don't have to worry about them leaving."

Shikamaru nodded. "Alright then set up camp discreetly. We'll have shifts to watch them."

* * *

 **And this is chapter 22! Hope you like it! Sorry it took so long to put up, but I'm typing out the rest of the chapters on Word. This was 6 pages long. Thank you my patient readers! Know that I am thinking of you! ^ ^ And to the people who reviewed:** angel897 **,** Neguru Sucashi **,** WolfGirl **,** fated slayer **,** MoonKrystal **, and** yuchi1994 **! Very special thanks to you!**


	23. Chapter 23

**The Kunoichis That Didn't Belong Ch. 23**

**Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN NARUTO!**

* * *

Recap:  _"Ah! Finally!" Ino cried as they came off the mountain pass without any more mishaps._

_Temari grinned. "Hey guys. Glad to see you finally made it."_

" _Good, we're finally out. And they don't know we're here either." Shikamaru said as they finally exited the pass._

* * *

**Time: 7:00 am**

**Place: Bear Mountain Pass**

**Date: One Day from Meeting**

"Ugh! Get up, get up!" Sakura shouted to her team, shaking them.

"Huh? What is it forehead?" Ino rubbed her eyes sleepily.

"We're going to be late if we don't start moving!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Eh? But it's only seven . . . we should be able to have another hour without any mishaps." TenTen said, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

"Yes, but in case you have forgotten, we need to scout out the area and become familiar with the landscape and location in case we have need of an exit." Sakura replied.

"Hinata can do that." Temari pointed out.

Sakura glared at them. "But it's better to be safe than sorry when dealing with Orochimaru. You  _know_  how much trouble he caused back then . . . and how he easily backstabs others left and right."

" . . ." They carefully considered her words before reluctantly getting up and putting their things away.

* * *

Sasuke and his teammates were all awoken by Sakura's rather loud shout to her team.

The shinobi, so out of it, would have replied out to the girls if not for Shikamaru, who preparing for a case like this, had Shino send his bugs and cover the others' mouths with a cloth. They were surprised for a moment, and would have struggled, but this time, Shikamaru had awoken and quietly told them to be still.

After listening to the conversation of the kunoichi, Shikamaru motioned his hand. It was time to move out.

* * *

"How much farther until we reach the village?" TenTen asked as they ran along.

"About twenty more miles." Hinata replied.

"What time will it be then?" Ino asked, leaping on tree branches.

"About 5:50 or so." Temari replied from above Ino.

"Do you think the gate is open?" Sakura asked, from behind Hinata.

"They should." Responded Ino.

* * *

**Time: 8:20 am**

**Place:** **Pelilent Village**

**Date: One Day from Meeting**

The girls had entered the Pelilent Village without much fuss or resistance. Claiming to be merely tourists, they walked around window-shopping before going to check out a hotel room. Sakura went and bought supplies along with other goods. Temari and Ino inspected the village under the guise of touring. TenTen gathered information of the village and Hinata was left to find a place to stay.

-5 hours later-

"Well?" By this time the girls had gathered sufficient enough information about the area of the village, and had now met up at a restaurant that Sakura said sold excellent dango. It was now eleven o'clock and they were deciding how to best proceed with the plan.

"It's pretty much safe and peaceful around here. The people are pretty nice. There's no other shinobi around, as far as I can tell." Ino offered.

TenTen nodded. "Yeah. The history of this place is pretty much clean. No battles or anything."

"How should we get to the place and when?" Temari asked.

Sakura took a bite of her food. "I think we should just walk there. It doesn't exactly take very long. Do we need to buy anything else?"

"Um, should we really talk about that here?" Hinata asked, softly.

They looked at her and changed topics, now more alert of the shopkeeper, and a handful of customers around them.

"Right. So what did you find in the village, Sakura? I hope you didn't spend too much money—I haven't exactly bought anything yet!" Ino said in a teasing manner.

Sakura scoffed. "Me? Spend lots of money? Don't take me for you Ino—I'm not that selfish unlike  _you_."

They proceeded to jest at each other quietly as the other three ate the food while watching them amusedly.

* * *

"What have they been doing for the past hour?" Gaara asked Neji who was on the roof.

"Nothing. Only sitting there and talking. I don't think they're going anywhere anytime soon so we can probably relax for an hour or two." Neji replied. "What does Shikamaru say?"

"Same as you. You can go now, but in disguise so they don't know." Gaara replied.

Neji nodded. "Okay. I will check up on Shino and Naruto then." He walked away and began climbing down the building.

Gaara took up position behind the chimney, his aqua-green eyes observing the village, and his tan-colored clothes fanning out into the wind.

* * *

Shino kept walking with Naruto beside him, both adequately disguised as touring merchants of a different village. Naruto, thankfully, was keeping quiet, so his loud voice would not be recognized. Neji found them walking by a stall of firecrackers.

"How is the merchandise?" Neji asked in what he hoped was a casual merchant tone.

"Very nice. It was quite good quality." Shino replied.

"Yeah it's great!" Naruto said, trying to keep his voice low.

"That's good." Neji said.

"So . . . how are they?" Naruto asked, eyes looking around at the stalls.

"They haven't moved. The others are staying at the hotel right now." Neji replied.

"What is the plan for now? Follow them?" Shino asked.

"No, stay in disguise for now. Actually, if we let them be for now, it may be alright." Neji said. "They don't seem to be going anywhere."

"But we should still watch them!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Yes, the boats are certainly uniquely designed." Shino said, covering up for Naruto's loudness when the some people glanced their way.

"I'm going to look over there." Neji pointed to the far west side of the village.

"Right. We'll keep looking over here." Shino replied.

The Hyuuga left the two walking between the fireworks stalls and the firecracker stalls.

* * *

Sasuke paced the room as Shikamaru looked at the maps on the table. Eying the Uchiha, Shikamaru finally spoke. "Sasuke you might as well help me go through these maps instead of pacing like a caged animal."

"Why do you need those maps for?" Sasuke asked, coming to stand next to the table. "We already know the area and you've made a plan for tomorrow."

"That's true. But we still need back-up plans. That's why I'm going over the surrounding terrain of the meeting place tomorrow." Shikamaru told him. "Something may go wrong so it would be best to prepare for anything."

Sasuke gave him an annoyed grunt but took a seat anyway.

* * *

"Okay so do we need to get any tools?" Sakura asked. "We  _did_  loose some in that fight you know."

"Right. What do we get if they don't sell any here?" TenTen asked.

"No, they do sell them here. But they're a bit pricey." Sakura said.

"Mhm." TenTen took another bite out of her dango.

"We should get going now." Hinata said, she and Ino moving to stand.

"Right." Temari, Sakura, and TenTen also stood, and Ino left some money on the table.

Walking, the five casually exited the restaurant, and went around town.

* * *

**Time: 9:20 pm**

**Place:** **Pelilent Village Local Hotel**

**Date: One Day from Meeting**

Sakura glanced at the others. "What time is the meeting?"

"Twelve exactly." Temari said from her side of the room.

"It only takes about an hour to get there from here." Hinata told them, sitting up on her bed.

"Right. So who's going to go to the exchange?" TenTen asked, lying on her stomach.

"We're all capable of going and not get killed." Ino pointed out.

"Yeah, but this is Orochimaru we're talking about." Temari said.

"Is it actually going to be him or someone else under him at the exchange?" Sakura asked.

"Whoever it is, we should dress carefully." Hinata said.

"Right! Should we go for the mysterious look?" Ino asked, lightening the mood.

"Eh, it should just comfortable enough for us and easy to pull out concealed things in a hurry." TenTen said.

"Right. So how are we going to decide who goes?" Ino asked. "Rock, Paper, Scissors?"

The five glanced at each other before facing and playing against each other. It was then decided that Temari, Ino, and TenTen would go.

"Well, think about it. Me with pink hair and Hinata with white eyes is definitely a no-go." Sakura pointed out.

Ino tossed her long pony tail. "Forget  _that_ , how wide is the bridge? Will we have room to move? Will he?" Getting chosen to face their enemy had set Ino's mood to serious.

TenTen shrugged. "According to what I found out, horses are able to move across it with ease."

"But isn't it just a plane wooded bridge?" Hinata asked, confused.

"The people must have lied then. Rumors always stretch the truth." Temari said.

"We should get some sleep." Sakura said, and leaned over to turn off the light.

* * *

**Time: 10:00 am**

**Place: Northern outskirts of** **Pelilent Village**

**Date: Day of Meeting**

Ino, Sakura, Hinata, Temari, and TenTen walked out of the small village at ten o'clock in the morning. They weren't going to take any chances, but Rayku and Raika had warned them not to be earlier than the agreed time. They were, after all, playing by their enemy's rules to ensure that the scroll would be theirs. No chances on that matter could be taken, despite the kunoichis' views. So they were walking to the waterfall north of the village at ten. By the time they arrived, it would well be around eleven or so, leaving them only an hour before the time of the meeting.

-20 minutes-

"Remember, Sakura, Hinata. Stay hidden as much as possible. Even if we seem to need help, we'll somehow manage on our own, so secure the place in case he tries to run from the deal." TenTen said while walking down the path. The mentioned kunoichi nodded, Sakura slightly annoyed.

"Geez, we know what to do already!" she exclaimed, sounding exasperated, but that was just to get rid of her worried unease for the other girls.

"I have the envelope. This thing sure is thick and fat though." Ino said.

"Just don't loose it Ino." Temari retorted.

"This way!" Hinata pointed, walking towards the wooden post with the other kunoichi behind her.

* * *

"What time is it now?" TenTen asked as they stopped on path leading to the waterfall. Only a few more steps through dense trees would take them onto a bridge.

Checking her watch, Hinata replied, "Eleven forty-seven."

"Alright. You and Sakura should start going undercover. We'll stay here until its eleven fifty-five." Temari said.

Nodding Sakura and Hinata departed towards the surrounding forest leaving the other three alone, with Hinata activating her Byakugan immediately.

* * *

Sakura gasped slightly as she and Hinata saw the scene before them. Hinata, too, was shocked.

* * *

**Here is chapter 23 of The Kunoichis That Didn't Belong! Thank you all for taking the time to read this and patiently waiting for the next updates!**

**SPECIAL THANKS to my reviewers!**

Neguru Sucashi **: I didn't think I was, but I sorta am, aren't I? ^ ^ Thank you very much for your support throughout the chapters of my fanfiction.**

WolfGirl **: I'm happy to have your support!**


	24. Chapter 24

**The Kunoichis That Didn't Belong Ch. 24**

**Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN NARUTO!**

* * *

Recap:  _Sakura gasped slightly as she and Hinata saw the scene before them. Hinata, too, was shocked._

* * *

**Time: 10:00 am**

**Place: Northern outskirts of** **Pelilent Village**

**Date: Day of Meeting**

Shikamaru's team silently shadowed the kunoichi as they walked towards the bridge by the waterfall.

Naruto was repeatedly checking the time on his watch. Sasuke's eyes were darting everywhere as they neared the agreed meeting spot. Shino's kikaichū were carefully spread out around the area ahead to warn the shinobi of traps and to check out the scenery from above. Shikamaru carefully noted the locations of the would-be hidden caves that should be around them if the maps held true. Neji concentrated on leading the team in the right direction while Gaara made sure they were all silent as to not be heard.

"Well?" Naruto whispered impatiently as Shikamaru stopped them after thirty minutes.

"Listen to me. From here on out, we have to be very silent. The kunoichi will be on their guard because they are expecting to meet Orochimaru. Like any cautious shinobi they will be alert for anyone shadowing them or watching them from afar as we get nearer to the waterfall." Shikamaru looked carefully at his team. "We have to communicate through signals, so this means to be alert for each other and be on the alert for the enemy and the ones we are trailing. Yes, Naruto?" Shikamaru turned towards the blonde.

"What if there's a sudden attack or something?"

Shikamaru gave a small smile. "In the case of an attack by either side we are tracking then yes, you may scream or shout. But this is the last resort because we want to remain undetected. If they attack each other and not us, then we're fine. But in no case are they allowed to die. Is that okay with you?"

Naruto gave them his trademark grin. "Alright! Let's do this!" His voice was determined and they resumed walking forward once more.

* * *

" _What do we do? They split up!"_ Naruto signed frantically, caught unaware.

" _Easy. Just stick to the plan."_ Shino cautioned.

" _I've already activated that jutsu."_  Neji informed his teammates.

Shikamaru nodded.  _"Neji, Shino. You're on lookout. Warn us if anything happens. Gaara, Naruto, Sasuke. Stay with me. We may have to go in, but watch them very carefully. "_

The shinobi carefully went forward unseen by the kunoichi.

* * *

"Wow. Hinata, it's so beautiful!" Sakura gasped in a whisper.

The indigo-haired kunoichi nodded beside her. "It is! But-We have to concentrate!"

"Right! Focus!" Sakura shook her head.

* * *

**Time: 11:55 am**

**Place: Bridge by the Waterfall**

**Date: Day of Meeting**

TenTen checked her watch. "Five more minutes. Or do you guys want to go a little bit early?"

Temari turned on her earpiece hidden by her hood. "Do you see anything?"

" **No, its nothing . . . "** Sakura replied.

"Okay tell us when someone comes."

" **Roger that."**

"Well? Is there anyone?" Ino asked, and Temari shook her head.

"Nope, not yet."

-2 minutes later-

Temari's earphone crackled to life.

" **You guys! Start moving."** Sakura's voice told Temari.

"Why? Who is it?" Temari asked.

" **A hooded-figure is making way toward the bridge. It's about twelve now so you should get a move on. Me and Hinata are keeping watch."** Sakura replied.

"Got'cha." Temari turned to the other three. "Let's go."

* * *

**Time: 12:00 pm**

**Place: Bridge by the Waterfall**

**Date: Day of Meeting**

Four figures all cloaked in black walked onto the bridge by the waterfall. Three came from the south side where Pelilent Village was located while one came from the opposite end.

The three kunoichi wore hooded shirts, dark shades, loose-long-sleeved jackets, short pants, and a light backpack on their back. The shinobi opposite of them wore only black shades and a cloak with a hood. From what the kunoichi could see, there was a hint of silver-gray hair from under the hood.

TenTen, followed by Ino with Temari at the rear stopped at the same time as the other person did.

"I assume you three are the representatives from Organization: O.S.U.Y.?" The voice that spoke wasn't very manly, but it wasn't feminine either.

"And we assume you are Orochimaru's representative. Do you have the Ninkaidan Scroll which is the agreed object for exchange?" TenTen asked, with a stoic voice and straight eyes.

"Why yes, of course. Do you have the agreed information which is the exchange?" He held up a medium-width scroll. With memory, TenTen was able to recognize the scroll.

"It is here." TenTen gestured slightly to Ino behind her, and she stepped forward, showing the envelope.

"Then on the count of three we shall make the exchange?" The shinobi suggested, and TenTen nodded, discreetly taking the envelope from Ino and holding it.

"One . . . Two . . . Three!"

With a toss, both parties threw the objects at each other on three. The shinobi received the envelope at the same time as the kunoichi did, and both moved backwards quickly, away from each other.

* * *

Arriving back on solid ground, the representatives regarded each other carefully from opposite ends of the bridge, as the kunoichi's teammates inspected the scroll received.

"It looks right." Ino said as she and Temari examined it.

On the other end, the man casually fingered the envelope . . . but didn't open it. "That's the bargain then." He called out. "There is nothing more to discuss." Turning so his back faced them, the shinobi began to walk away with the kunoichi watching him.

Only when he was out of sight did TenTen look at Ino and Temari. "That's that. Let's regroup."

* * *

" _That's it?"_ Naruto signed as the exchanged finished.  _"What do we do now?"_

" _We'll have to split up and follow them then."_  Shikamaru replied.  _"Neji, Gaara, and I will follow that man. Naruto, Shino, and Sasuke follow the kunoichi. Contact us if there's trouble."_

They spilt up, preparing themselves for what might happen, but had no idea that the real trouble they were getting into was about to begin.

* * *

Hinata and Sakura met up with Ino, TenTen, and Temari as soon as they could.

"What should we do now?" Sakura asked them as Hinata took the scroll from Ino, unlocking it and opening it.

"Get out of here?" Ino suggested hopefully. "Though he hasn't opened it or anything we still need to make sure that he won't get a hold of it."

"And that means getting out of here." Temari finished, and Ino nodded. "Though I'll have to say something sounds fishy about this."

"Like what?" Hinata asked and they turned to her. "It's real all right," she added.

"Well, for instance, we don't know if he's planning on tracking our movements back to the organization's hideout." Temari said.

"Good point." Sakura said.

"So we should find out what he's planning?" Hinata asked.

"Let's have a vote then." TenTen decided. "All in favor of following raise your hands."

Temari, Hinata, and Sakura did. TenTen turned to Ino. "Sorry, but majority rules."

"Fine. But what will we do about the scroll?" Ino inquired.

TenTen considered for a moment before pulling an object out. "Seal it in here."

The four considered it doubtfully. "Is it strong enough?" they asked.

"Mhm! Should be!" TenTen replied.

"All right." Ino put the object in and the five kunoichi sealed the box before hiding it back away.

* * *

Neji, Gaara, and Shikamaru silently shadowed the follower of Orochimaru, taking great pains to stay hidden. The man kept walking with no indication whether or not that he knew he was being followed, and it continued like that for several minutes. Only perhaps fifteen minutes later, did the man strike.

It was unexpectedly so sudden that they were caught off guard by the whizzing kunai that Shikamaru barely dodged it and Gaara's sand came at the last second. Neji had dodged the kunai that came his way, but while dropping down, he saw the man hurrying to get away so he followed.

Of course Shikamaru and Gaara saw him leave and they followed behind him, but not too close in case Neji had to suddenly leap back.

They chased the shinobi, no longer trying follow the fellow unnoticed. Suddenly, the man stopped and as a reflex the Konoha shinobi paused as well, wary.

The man didn't turn to face them but addressed them. "Who are you and why are you following me?" he asked, like he didn't know.

The Konoha shinobi glanced at each other, and that moment was taken by the man to throw a large ball behind them, exploding into a large dust cloud. Coughing, the three were unable to move through the smoke.

Gaara's protective sand flowed forward in front, blocking most of the dust as it came rushing forward, but that didn't last as it flowed around and behind him. Neji, waving an arm around, had activated his Byakugan. Shikamaru was just quietly crouching on the ground.

Then, a loud explosion knocked the dust away with one blow, and a big spike-ball came flying at them. It hit Neji hard in the stomach, making him fly into Gaara and sending them both into the large rock several feet behind them. The weapon and the hit shinobi only missed Shikamaru by an inch because he was laying low.

Quickly rolling, Shikamaru landed in a nearby bush and watched to see what would happen while fighting his urge to help his winded comrades. He saw the shinobi walk over to them, preparing to presumably attack, but Gaara and Neji kicked the man hard in the legs, tripping him backwards. Furious, the man angrily stood forward and hit one of the pressure points to make them fall unconscious.

As soon as they were still, the man stood over their bodies, back to Shikamaru and studying the faces carefully. "Hmm, Konoha eh?" Shikamaru heard the man mutter out loud, interestingly. Shikamaru prepared himself to move.

* * *

Naruto, Sasuke, and Shino eavesdropped on the kunoichis' conversation, and soon it was clear that the girls were going to follow Orochimaru's shinobi.

" _Heh, seems like we'll be catching up to them after all."_  Naruto signed; his comrades nodded.

They trailed after the kunoichi silently and undiscovered . . . that is, until Naruto stepped on a weak branch and came crashing down. All seven others froze, and time seemed to stand still.

Then, the kunoichi were upon the blonde, and his teammates leapt down to help him, no longer staying undercover, since they were sure that Naruto would be instantly recognized.

Of course, they were right. Both sides glared at each other furiously, preparing for the onslaught of battle.

"Who are you and why are you following us?" Sakura asked, pretending she hadn't recognized them and knowing that they couldn't have-with the outfit she put on, her pink hair was hardly visible.

" . . . It's none of your concern." Sasuke said, and the girls looked at him in disbelief.  _Did he really say that when they caught them following them?_  They thought in anger.

"You're saying that? And yet you're the ones following us!" Ino said loudly and angrily, hands on hips and eyes flashing angrily.

"It's about Orochimaru." Shino said, deftly interrupting before Naruto and Sasuke could reply to them rashly.

"What about him?" TenTen asked, staring.

"We had a lead that he would be here with something." Shino replied, and the kunoichi glanced at each other dubiously.

". . . So what are you asking?" Hinata asked.

"I propose we temporarily work together and find the man." Shino said.

The girls nodded in agreement after consulting each other, and the newly combined group warily walked forward together.

* * *

They were walking forward when suddenly, something broke from the cover of the trees and the eight ninja stared stupidly as a battered Shikamaru stumbled in front of them.

* * *

**Thank you my readers and reviewers. I'm glad you like my story so far!**

**Special Thanks for Reviewers (You guys will be honorable mentions! ^ ^):**

yuuchi1994 **,** Neguru Sucashi **,** O.o Crazy Brunette o.O **,** WolfGirl **,**   **and** xxjimmyxx1


	25. Chapter 25

**The Kunoichis That Didn't Belong Ch. 25**

**Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN NARUTO!**  

* * *

 Recap:  _The girls nodded in agreement after consulting each other, and the newly combined group warily walked forward together._

_They were walking forward when suddenly, something broke from the cover of the trees and the eight ninja stared stupidly as a battered Shikamaru stumbled in front of them._

* * *

**Time: 2:30 pm**

**Place: Near the Waterfall Bridge**

**Date: Day of Meeting**

Naruto, of course, was the first to react. "Shikamaru!" he shouted, running forward to the injured man. Shino and Sasuke twitched, as their cover was now effectively blown, but knew it wasn't entirely Naruto's fault since they had never decided on using fake manes during the mission.

The lazy genius was injured with many scrapes and bruises on his face, arms, legs and torso, and probably had more the others couldn't see.

"Our teammate is injured, do you have any supplies?" Sasuke asked, turning to the kunoichi.

"He has internal injury as well." Hinata said, drawing their attention. "Blossom, I suppose, could help you if she doesn't mind." She looked at Sakura, and the others followed her example.

"Fine." Sakura stepped over to Shikamaru, kneeling beside Naruto. "Scoot over," she told him crossly, and he shifted his position. Her arms stretched out and her hands glowed green with chakra as began to heal the injured shinobi. The others watched on in silence.

Although the other four kunoichi were taught how to heal using chakra, Sakura was the most experienced of them being the first apprentice of Tsunade, so they left the task up to her.

"I'm done." Sakura stood as she finished her task of healing Shikamaru, and his teammates crowded around him worriedly.

"Shikamaru? What happened to you?" Naruto asked worriedly.

Shikamaru, his eyes open, had already assessed the situation and so spoke. His voice came out not weak unlike his body. "It was Kabuto." The other ninjas wore an expression of surprise. "He knew we were following him, and attacked us." Shikamaru recounted the events of 20 minutes ago.

* * *

_The cloaked figure, hood fallen backwards, turned out to be none other than Kabuto, Orochimaru's most trusted and loyal subordinate. "Hmm, Konoha eh?" he muttered aloud, and studied the unconscious two further. "Well. A Hyuuga and the Kazekage. This is certainly a surprise." His voice took on an interested tone and he did not move for a minute._

_Finally, he seemed to come to a decision, and bent to scoop up both shinobi but changed his mind to summon two snakes instead. The summoned hebi curled it's tail around both males and followed it's master as Kabuto motioned it to follow. Shikamaru, as swiftly and silently as possible, followed, careful to conceal his chakra and presence._

_After miles of swift walking, Kabuto and his summoned hebi arrived at the mouth of a cave, carved from the mountainside. "Carry them inside." Kabuto ordered. The hebi obeyed so that Shikamaru's comrades were no longer in his line of sight. Following the snake, Kabuto disappeared into the cavern as well._

_Shikamaru crept forward until he was at the very edge of the cave mouth's opening. Peering inside, he frowned-the inside was pitch-black and he couldn't make out anything without lighting something and alerting the enemy of his presence. Going against his better judgment of getting help, Shikamaru stepped inside no more than ten steps before suddenly encountering glowing red eyes. Startled, he instantly jumped backwards towards the cave's opening, aware that those glowing eyes could easily detect his figure, and its body his movements._

_Eventually Shikamaru made it outside the cave, but not unscathed. The purple creature slithered towards him, coiling its head as a signal it was ready to strike. The shinobi had to calculate his plan as the figure moved closer towards him._

_They fought each other, drawing farther back into the forest, away from the cave. The hebi, on its orders, lunged after the shinobi as he tried to flee, and the match lasted no more than a few minutes though it seemed longer. However, brain won against the beast and Shikamaru was able to escape after casting a de-summoning jutsu, causing the snake to disappear in a cloud of smoke._

_Shikamaru walked warily towards the forest in the direction where he knew the others would be, slowly ambling his way back to them._

* * *

 ", and that's what happened." Shikamaru said, concluding his flashback. The others stared at him uncertainly, and he leaned back onto a tree. "It's no use hiding it. We know you five are Sakura, Hinata, Ino, TenTen, and Temari. You obviously already know who we are. As of this new addition to the mission, we have at present, a newer and greater concern. If you choose to leave now, we won't follow you." He studied the five who looked at him. Naruto, the protestor, was held back by Sasuke and Shino who forced him to be quiet and still.

"However," Shikamaru continued seeing as no one interrupted him. "if you choose to stay, then we beg of you to assist us. If not for the sake of the rest of our team being your once close companions and or blood relative, then simply for the fact that you may acquire valuable information on Orochimaru."

". . ." The females turned to each other, conferring with themselves in discussion.

Finally, one of them, to be specific, TenTen, nodded at the shinobi. "Fine. We'll help you. But not because we care. Only that you'll possibly benefit us or serve as welcome targets of distraction towards our common enemy. Do  _not_ think of us as friends." In no way did she state they recognized or acknowledged themselves as who Shikamaru claimed them to be. Nevertheless, the Nara allowed himself as smile.

"Glad to have you."

* * *

**Time: 3:00 pm**

**Place: Cavemouth**

**Date: Day of Meeting**

"They're inside." Shikamaru said, and after a glance, the group stealthily slipped into the darkness.

* * *

Once inside, the group split into two as assigned by Shikamaru. Ino, Temari, Naruto, Shino and Sasuke were in one group while Hinata, TenTen, Sakura, and Shikamaru were in the other. Hinata went to the right as Ino went left, and both teams were terribly aware of what was lying in wait for them.

* * *

"So why did you leave?" Naruto asked, in a quiet voice.

"None of your business." Ino snapped irritably as Naruto repeated his question continuously.

"Naruto shut up. Snakes can hear." Sasuke said, and Naruto quieted, leaving the groups to silence.

They continued down the corridors, when all of a sudden, Shino spoke, surprising them.

"Sasuke, can you recognize this place?"

Sasuke considered this as they walked, then nodded. "Somewhat. The layout is certainly different, but he likes to use this pattern…. More convenient for his assistant when he needs to finish in a hurry." Sasuke went in front of Ino. "I'll lead," he said, and got no protest from the kunoichi.

* * *

Hinata's group traveled in silence with Hinata's bloodline activated from behind her dark shades. They walked in silence as none of them were very prone to talking, especially within the enemy's lair.

After several minutes of walking, the group could see a light up ahead. Cautiously, they approached.

* * *

Gaara and Neji woke up to ringing headaches and found themselves to be in a dark room lit with a small lamp. The two were sitting back to back with each other, tied securely with a rope. They found their weapons removed from their hidden spots, leaving them to be partially defenseless.

Partially, because as soon as they awoke and found themselves 'weaponless', Neji activated his Byakugan and Gaara called to his sand from his gourd, seeking it. Neji found it in the room next door, conveniently placed with all of their taken items, and told Gaara as much. Together, they focused on getting free from their prison.

* * *

Ino's group walked silently through the passages, making necessary turns seen fit by Sasuke. His direction, he explained, was to find Orochimaru's workroom, or if possible, Orochimaru's location. Relying on his old memories, Sasuke led them to where he believed was the right place, but was in fact making a deadly mistake.

* * *

Finally free after much struggling, Gaara and Neji opened the door slowly, and was surprised to find themselves standing face-to-face with Hinata, with TenTen, Sakura, and Shikamaru behind her. They stared at each other for several minutes, especially both Hyuugas, when Sakura broke the moment by jostling forward. This broke both out of their stupor, and the elder Hyuuga looked at Shikamaru eyes conveying a question. Shikamaru tilted his head forward, nodding  _yes_ , and Neji spoke.

"Excuse me." His tone was monotone, and his voice was low as to not attract attention. He moved forward as the others moved back, with Gaara behind him. Walking down, he did not stop until he reached a room. However, it turned out to be locked. As they stare at it, wondering how to best open it without attracting attention, TenTen detaches herself from the group and moves fluidly in front of Neji. She bent down and picked at the lock, turning the knob with a successful click. Neji grunts a small thanks as she moves back to stand with the others, and both Byakugans are activated, testing for traps.

As there are none, both disarmed shinobi go forward to quickly reclaim their weapons. They finished and walked out of the room, going down the hallway when a loud scream is heard and at the same time, the whole passage starts to shake with debris falling around them.

The group ran as fast as their legs would carry them, hoping that the falling rocks would neither crush or hinder them.

* * *

"Kukuku…" the laugh of Orochimaru was clearly audible to the immobile group of two kunoichi and three shinobi.

"Ugh! Let us go!" Naruto yelled, struggling to free himself from his bonds.

"How did you find us?" Ino cried, fiercely glaring at their adversary.

"Very simple, actually." Kabuto steps forward beside his master and the light reflects off his glasses as he pushes them up the bridge of his nose, effectively hiding his eyes.

"You see," Kabuto smiled. "We quite simply changed the layout of this lair. Although I have to admit that it was quite the trouble since we hadn't done this before. However, it was clearly worth it as you came to our trap very easily."

The others turned to Sasuke, about to yell angrily at him, especially Ino and Naruto, but he spoke before they could. "How was I supposed to know?" he asked irritably.

Shino, the ever calm one, addressed Kabuto and Orochimaru. "What do you plan to do with us?"

"Hmm, something dreadfully fun, I expect. Isn't that right, Orochimaru-sama?" Kabuto asked in a lilting tone.

"Kukukuku, you are right, Kabuto. Indeed I have plans for the three of you." He was looking directly at the three shinobi and licking his lips with his long tongue at the same time, completely ignoring the kunoichi present and the shinobis' disgusted looks towards him.

Kabuto gave a mocking bow. "As you can see, we have much in store for you."

"What about Gaara and Neji!" Naruto shouted, and everyone tensed as Kabuto gave them his evil grin.

"Why, they shall join us, of course. And so will all of your other companions."

At this, Temari clenched her fist tightly, unable to contain her disgust at what Orochimaru intended to her youngest brother despite the fact she was supposed to forget and not care about him.

* * *

"Try to be patient. We shall see you soon." The two exited the room, leaving the captured prisoners struggling behind.

"What are we going to do?" Naruto said, struggling futilely to free himself.

Sasuke did not answer; he was too busy trying to free his hands to cast a jutsu.

Ino was moving her hands along the vines holding her, searching for any weakness in them.

Temari was straining to reach the giant fan strapped onto her back, but they her bonds did not allow it, so she attempted to access her two smaller steel fans located somewhere on her body.

Shino, on the other hand, stood calmly with no signs of struggling or anything. The explanation for this was quite simple. While him team conversed angrily with the enemy (more like made angry statements), he had commanded his Kikaichū bugs to devour the vines when the attention was not focused onto him. This was why Shino was mostly halfway free when both Kabuto and Orochimaru exited the rooms, and broke his once trapped hands apart.

They gaped, shocked at his freedom. Shino took the liberty of letting his bugs swarm around them, commanding them to devour the vines that had ensnared them. Within moments, the other four were freed, and making a getaway after the two S-class missing-nin.

* * *

"Hold it right there!" Naruto shouted, his clones surrounding the area and the two shinobi completely.

"We're not letting you get away." Temari said this, in a stance to fight alongside Sasuke.

While they were running after Orochimaru and Kabuto, the five had discovered a room fully scattered with papers on a desk. Ino and Shino had chosen to stay behind and gather the information there, so only three of them faced Orochimaru and Kabuto, hoping to take them hostage or seriously injure them.

"Kukukuku…. You fools!" Orochimaru cried and cast hand signals to make a jutsu. Seeing this, Naruto's clones rushed forward to attack but Kabuto summoned snakes which destroyed the incoming clones.

Sasuke launched a fireball jutsu at Kabuto and Naruto's clones made it a combo attack. Add Temari's giant wind to the factor made for a fairly hot and burning fireball speeding towards the enemy.

Of course, the enemy could not be taken down that easily. Kabuto cast a jutsu that dispelled the fireball, leaving the entire area in smoke. Temari, who had tried to get around behind Orochimaru to cut him off but couldn't due to them being in a hallway, blew her giant fan's wind quickly, dispelling the smoke. However, when the area cleared, the enemy could not be found, and she hissed in frustration.

* * *

Ino and Shino were rummaging around the office and collecting as many papers that they could, providing it was important, when all of a sudden, the walls around them started to shake. Shino noted the debris slowly falling from the ceiling and told Ino that they go.

They dashed out of the room, and ran into the rest of their group that was also running.

"Did you find them?" Ino cried, running.

"They got away!" Temari said angrily. "And we have to get out of here!"

"No contact with the others." Sasuke informed.

"So what do we do? We've gotta alert them somehow!" Naruto said this as they passed a couple of turns.

"Ino, scream!" Temari said, looking at Ino seriously, and taking hold of her sleeve.

Ino, surprised, stopped for a second but was pulled back into running by Temari's grip on her sleeve. "What?"

"Scream, Ino! You're so loud that it'll echo to them!" Temari had discarded any care for their identities, now openly saying Ino's real name.

"But I-"

"She's right. It will possible alert the others." Shino said. His voice was still unbelievably calm despite their desperation to get out.

"Alright then." After everyone's agreement, Ino took a deep breath and screeched with all her might, "GET OUT!"

The words echoed away as they continued to run.

* * *

"I think that was Ino." Sakura said as they ran, fear trickling into her voice. "Did something happen?"

"I'm not sure." Shikamaru said. "I can't reach any of them for some reason. It must be the debris." They turned.

"What can you two see?" Shikamaru asked, but Hinata and Neji only shook their heads.

"Nothing. We'd better get out." Neji said, and Hinata agreed.

"Maybe they're already out," she suggested and sped up as Neji did.

The others adjusted their paces to follow.

* * *

"There!" They ran faster as they saw light from the cave entrance up ahead, and burst through just as the entire cave collapsed down. Panting, they stopped but looked around at the same time.

"Where are we?" Hinata asked, looking.

"I don't know… We weren't in this area before." TenTen said.

Suddenly, from the undergrowth of the forest trees they faced, things lunged out, and coiled tightly around some of them. Smoke flowed into their faces and they coughed into their arms. The attack was so sudden and unexpected that they did not do anything but watch as the things disappeared back to the forest. The smoke itself cleared moments later.

"What was that…" Sakura asked and turned, only to gasp as she saw that all the males were missing.

"They just got kidnapped!" Sakura exclaimed, and the three kunoichi looked at each other.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" TenTen said, and burst forward. "After them!"

Her teammates followed.

* * *

**Chapter 25 has arrived, and more quickly updated as well! I hope you stick with this story until the very end!**


	26. Chapter 26

**The Kunoichis That Didn't Belong Ch. 26**

**Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN NARUTO!**   

* * *

 

Recap:  _"Alright then." After everyone's agreement, Ino took a deep breath and screeched with all her might, "GET OUT!"_

_They just got kidnapped!" Sakura exclaimed, and the three kunoichi looked at each other._

* * *

  **Time: 4:30 pm**

**Place: Forest**

**Date: Day of Meeting**

Ino and her group burst out of the cave with extra speed generated from running really fast. Naruto dropped to the ground, and they all breathed quite heavily.

"What are we going to do?" Temari asked, looking at the team.

"I'll try and contact Shikamaru." Shino said, working the communication radio while Kikaichū bugs flew out of him, scanning the area.

They kept their guard up, but nothing came.

"Well?" Temari asked as Shino's bugs returned. "Nothing. Maybe they didn't come out yet."

"You mean they're trapped?" Ino cried, panicked.

At that same moment a ball was tossed at them and exploded, releasing a lot of smoke.

"!"

Everyone tried to not breathe in the smoke and did what they could to disperse it. Temari's giant fan helped, but when the smoke cleared away, she and Ino found the other three shinobi to be missing. Only long drag marks on the dirt to the forest indicated a lead to their whereabouts.

"Let's go!" Temari said, and they ran after the abducted shinobi.

* * *

"Should we split up?" Sakura asked as they ran. "I mean if they went in different directions . . ."

Hinata, with Byakugan-activated eyes, spoke. "I see them now. Right now they're going in the same direction. But we shouldn't split up until we have a clear visual on them."

"Got it." TenTen said, and they kept running forward.

* * *

"Over there!" TenTen stretched her arms to where she saw purple things moving through the treetops.

"Snakes can't go that high!" Sakura exclaimed with disbelief.

"Shinobi snakes probably can." TenTen said.

"It's them!" Hinata said, and they focused their eyes on the treetops.

Suddenly, they collided into a person.

"Oof!"

They lay on the ground, stunned but recognized the others.

"Temari! Ino!"

"Sakura! TenTen! Hinata!"

"What happened?" Sakura asked. "We heard your scream, Ino."

"No time for that, Shino, Sasuke, and Naruto just got kidnapped!" Temari exclaimed.

"So did Neji, Shikamaru, and Gaara!" TenTen said.

"What?" Temari snapped her fan open.

"Over there, guys! They're getting away!" Hinata yelled, pointing.

"Oh no they don't!" Temari hopped onto her fan and flew with speed after the purple things.

"Temari caught up to them . . . Oh no! They just grouped and split up!" Hinata said.

"Who to where, Hinata?" TenTen asked.

"Gaara going north, Shikamaru going northeast slightly, Shino going northeast slightly past Shikamaru, Naruto going northwest past Gaara, Sasuke going northwest slightly past Naruto, and Neji going northwest slightly past Sasuke!"

"Okay, who's going where?" Tenten asked.

"Temari is already chasing after Gaara . . . I'm going to Shino." Hinata said.

"I'll go for Sasuke and Naruto." Sakura said.

"Shikamaru." Ino said.

"Then I'll get Neji." TenTen said, and the five split up.

* * *

Chasing after her brother was an easy task. Aiming at the moving snake carrying him was something else.

Temari relentlessly chased down her brother's captive as well as attacking them from above. She took careful point not to hit her brother but the foliage was blocking her way. Dimly, in her mind, she asked herself why she was still caring for him though she wasn't supposed to be, especially after what she'd gone through and her past actions. Leaving the village was like betrayal, and having done that, she didn't know why she cared.

But she knew the answer within herself. True, those feelings of anger at her brothers and uncle were there even when she did encounter them. But seem them again . . . it brought back memories and feelings of happiness. You didn't live with your brother and not argue. You especially didn't leave your  _village_  and family over trivial verbal arguments that were unreasonable as well. Maybe she had gone over her head with her feelings. At least going away gave her fresh time to not even think about it. Not for a while, at least.

Yes, she still had anger towards him. However, after hearing what Kabuto did and what Orochimaru would  _plan_  to do . . . well, she'd heard enough rumors about the pedophileness of Orochimaru and had clear idea of what he meant to do. And only idiots would think that she would leave her kin to the horror of Orochimaru. It didn't matter what the past held. No one was going to hurt a member of her family on Temari's watch.

She flew down closer to her target.

* * *

Hinata ran after the creature that held her ex-teammate with speed that was gained over the time of training with her new sensei. She made sure the creature was in her line of view, careful to not loose sight despite the surround foliage. Unlike her fellow kunoichi, Hinata did not try to take aim at the creature. Instead her plan was simply to follow. Her old team hadn't specialized in tracking for nothing, and Hinata stealthily pursued her target.

While running, Hinata noticed that several black things flew along beside her. A careful glance placed memory as she recognized Shino's Kikaichū bugs.

"Are you here to help me help Shino?" she asked softly as she saw the bugs. In answer, they flew right, and Hinata followed them instinctively.

* * *

Sakura ran after the snakes, lightly avoiding the trees in her way. Unlike the others, she was chasing two snakes. However, those snakes chose to stick in view of each other and her. This pattern was unusual and the pinkette had a thought that they were perhaps leading her somewhere. But that was no matter since she would follow and them staying close let her keep track of them easier. But she would have to be wary against traps.

Sure, Sasuke was a jerk and Naruto was an idiot, but just being reminded of them in person was huge for Sakura. She hadn't spent almost all her life chasing after her teammates for nothing. She had become stronger even if she had left the village hoping to never see them again to do it.

She gave a hollow little laugh as she realized she was yet again chasing after her teammates.

* * *

Tenten jumped on branch after branch after her target, the snake that held Neji captive and was also jumping from tree branch to tree branch in an attempt to get away from her.

Although she chased after it easily, she wished that Neji would just free himself from the snake's grip. He was the Hyuuga Prodigy after all, she found herself thinking irritably. He should be able to free himself!

* * *

Ino cursed as she witnessed the snake jumping from branch to branch at the speed of a shinobi. It had Shikamaru in his grasp, and the millionth time, she wished that he wasn't so lazy.

Sure, he could probably think of a way to free himself, but what if he was just going to sit tight and let her rescue him? It was something that he would do as part of his plan. That is, if he had a plan. Ino sighed as that was probably the case.

' _Well, whatever the plan is, I hope he'll tell me soon!'_

* * *

Individually, the five chased their opponents, some carefully attacking and some not. They were hot on the trail so it was not surprising when they stopped suddenly. The kunoichis had just lost sight of the snakes and the presence and chakra of the hebi could not be sensed by them.

They cursed.

* * *

Ino jumped from tree branch to tree branch, going up higher and higher. She couldn't have just lost sight of them like that! They had been right in front of her!

Reaching the highest peak of the tree, Ino hurriedly scanned the greenery below her, looking for anything that moved or was purple. However, nothing stirred, and she groaned, wishing that she had a giant fan like to Temari's to fly on. As she was thinking that, something came at her and hit her hard, almost sending her flying. However, she had a good grip on the branch and so was simply hanging there.

Turning, she saw several smaller snakes posed to attack her, and in response, she threw kunai and shuriken at them. However, it was difficult to do so well when holding a tree branch tightly with one hand as to not fall. She also wished she hadn't chosen the highest tree of the forest to have a hold onto. The closer she was to the ground, the easier it would be to drop to the ground without serious injury.

As she wasn't near the ground, Ino had no choice but to simply hang on. She was completely isolated, which was why it was no surprise when she reached the end to her weapons supply and the snakes launched themselves at her, separating her forcibly from the tree and sending her flying through the air.

While Ino was falling down at an alarming speed, her eyes were squeezed shut as she tried to brace herself for the expected impact that would come from the fall at her height. So she was shocked when she stopped falling all of a sudden, and felt herself carried by strong arms.

Her shut eyes cautiously opened to see a pale white face staring at her with some concern.

"Ino-san? Are you alright?"

It wasn't until he spoke that she recognized Sai of Konoha.

"Ino?"

She brought herself to respond, struggling to sit up in what she realized were his arms. "I'm alright. But I was chasing a snake that captured Shikamaru, and then those two other snakes," here she gestured vaguely with a free arm to the ground and continued, "attacked me while I was scouting up there on that tree." Ino then squinted at him. "Which reminds me, what are you doing here anyways?"

"I'm here because Shikamaru called me here, along with plenty of backup, and it's a good thing I came this way or you would be seriously injured." Sai replied.

Ino snorted. "Huh. Even if I  _was_  seriously injured, I could definitely heal myself. I  _was_  taught by Tsunade you know." She retorted.

Sai shrugged. "I'd rather you were not injured so that we have as many able-bodied shinobi available to fight against Orochimaru."

Ino's cheeks turned a light pink as she realized the point of his logic and the fact that he wasn't saying she couldn't handle herself.

"Well, what about those attacking snakes?" she asked.

"I've already taken care of them on the way here."

"Great!" Ino said with relief. "Let's go down now. We have to find the others."

Agreeing, they descended at a rapid pace, and soon were running through the thick forest.

* * *

TenTen ran out into the middle of the clearing and stopped stunned. Temari glided down from above and stood next to her. Sakura reached for her radio communicator.

"We've got a situation."

* * *

As Ino and Sai ran, all of a sudden they collided into several other people.

"Oof! Ugh, twice in one day…" Ino groaned and held her head.

"Ino! And Sai-san?"

They looked up to see Hinata, as well as Kiba, Akamaru, Chouji, and Lee beside her.

"Hinata! Glad to see you!" Ino exclaimed, but paused when she turned to face the others.

"They're our back-up." Hinata explained, rising from the floor, and the group followed her example.

"Ok, so have you found them?" Ino asked, but Hinata shook her head.

"Not yet. But that's why we're here!" Kiba exclaimed with a happy woof from Akamaru. "We know their scents so we'll definitely find them!"

"Let's group up and go then." Sai said, taking charge and followed Kiba with Akamaru who took the lead. They were followed by Chouji and Rock Lee, lastly by Ino and Hinata.

"Hinata-chan, are you sure about this?" Ino asked softly as they ran.

"We have to choice but to make a truce, Ino. Don't worry, it'll be alright." Hinata said reassuringly.

They were updated as they ran.

"I contacted Shikamaru as soon as the shinobi from Konoha arrived. Of course he then told me of the situation you were in and told me bring the others in right away." Sai said.

"So he's been conscious?" Ino asked.

"Yes and no. In the middle of telling me that he and the others were captured by snakes, I heard a loud thump and he did not respond when I called him a couple of times. It was then that I briefed the others and we left as soon as we could." Sai explained.

"Yeah, and then we," Kiba moved his arm, gesturing to himself and the other shinobi, "left and ran into Hinata."

"And Kankuro went to find Gaara-san." Lee added.

"I was chasing after Shikamaru and it looked like the snake had a pretty tight hold on him, and then they seemed to disappear." Ino said.

"Yes. And I was looking for Shino, and following his Kikaichū bugs, but then Kiba and the others arrived and the bugs flew away." Hinata said.

"Well, that's-" Ino was cut off by a crackling sound, and Hinata answered her radio, with everyone coming to a stop.

"Hello?"

" **We've got a situation."**

"Sakura? What's wrong?" They stared blankly at Hinata, who was trying to get information out of Sakura.

" **You gotta get here and get here** _ **fast**_ **."** Temari's voice sounded.

"Okay, where are you?" Hinata asked.

" **We're a in clearing somewhere, but if you can take to the skies or look around with your eyes then you'll see us."**  TenTen responded.

There was a crackling sound and the radio clicked off.

"That's soo helpful." Ino scoffed sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Guess Sai will have to go up, Hinata's gotta look around, and Kiba and Akamaru will have to sniff around."

Sai whipped out a scroll with a brush and ink right away as Hinata activated her eyes. An ink creature of flight broke away from the scroll and Sai took to the skies as Hinata scanned the ground. Kiba and Akamaru sniffed the air and the others watched the four with apprehension.

Suddenly, a figure stepped out from the trees and everyone whipped around to see Shino stepping out, surrounded by his bugs.

"Shino!" Lee, Chouji, and Ino cried and went over to him immediately. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. What's happening?" Shino asked.

The three quickly briefed him in on the situation while the four continued to search. "And how did you escape?" Ino asked.

"My Kikaichū bugs helped me." Shino retorted. "And they'll help with the search." He spread his arms and the bugs around him scattered.

Ino, Chouji, and Lee waited tensely in suspense, and were so focused that they jumped when Sai flapped down above them, Hinata opened her eyes, Kiba and Akamaru started growling, and Shino's bugs returned to him.

"Over there!" The four shinobi said unanimously with a bark accompanying them, and pointed northeast.

"Then let's get going!" Chouji said, and they ran towards the direction.

While they ran, Kiba said, "Hey! What are we going do?"

Hinata's determined reply answered him.

"We find out what's going on."

* * *

**Here's Chapter 26 for you! There is only two chapters left to this story! Who ever reviewed will be mentioned in the end of the very last chapter, so please read and review!**

**Thanks to** yuuchi1995, Cindy Medeiros, zoe1995, WolfGirl  **and** Rixclassa **!**

**And thanks also all my readers and subscribers!**


	27. Chapter 27

**The Kunoichis That Didn't Belong Ch. 27**

**Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN NARUTO!**

* * *

Recap:  _"We find out what's going on."_

* * *

**Place: Forest**

**Date: Day of Meeting**

TenTen, Temari, and Sakura stared across the clearing at Orochimaru and Kabuto, taking in the sight of the kidnapped shinobi lying at the feet of the evil shinobi.

"Kukuku . . . Look at them, Kabuto." Orochimaru said.

"Yes, very interesting Orochimaru-sama." Kabuto pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Release them Orochimaru!" Temari yelled.

"Well, they're not even tied up. Obviously they don't want to go with you." Orochimaru replied.

"You probably used a paralyzing jutsu on them!" Sakura declared.

"So what if we did?" Kabuto asked with a smile. "If you take a single step we will have them killed, and I'm sure you wouldn't want  _that_  to happen."

"Well, what do you want from us then?" TenTen asked.

"For you to leave of course."

"We're not going, so you better just prepare to fight us!" Temari responded.

" _We_ ," Kabuto said, "are so much more superior to you lowly kunoichi that we would easily defeat you. Some as worthless and unchallenging as you are a piece of cake."

The three narrowed their eyes at him, taking notice of his use of words. Suspiciously, they were on similar lines of what they were told years ago . . . strange that their weakness was the first thing to be said instead of something else.

"What do you know?" Sakura shot back. "Tsunade of Konohagakure is a kunoichi, Orochimaru and Jiraiya's teammate, and she is certainly far from weak!"

"Ah, Tsunade." Orochimaru said. "Well, I agree that she certainly is extraordinarily gifted in many ways, but she does have her weaknesses as do we all. But really, as one of the Sannin, her level is far higher than yours or any other person, so you really can't compare your lowly selves to someone as high as she is, which is still lower than me." His conceited voice rang throughout the clearing and the girls glared at him, unwilling to do something that would cause the unconscious shinobis' downfall.

They were stalling, and both of the missing-nin clearly knew it.

"Even if you want backup to come they won't arrive in time." Kabuto told them. "We'll definitely be gone before then."

"Well we won't let you!" Sakura cried, and the three suddenly rushed forward.

Kabuto only bent to summon three snakes that immediately came forward to meet the kunoichi and the clang of metal rang through the air.

Instead of moving away, the two missing-nin just watched the battle with amusement and casually dodged any stray weapons that glanced off of the unusually rough hides of the snakes.

' _Come on, Hinata, Ino! We're counting on you!_ ' Sakura thought.

* * *

Eight figures burst from the eastern side of greenery into the clearing, and one figure came from the northern side at the same time.

"Hinata! Ino!" cried Sakura.

"Temari! Gaara!" Kankuro yelled, from the northern side.

"Kankuro?" Temari's voice was confused as she said her brother's name.

"TenTen!" Lee's voice yelled loudly.

"Lee?" TenTen's response was much like Temari's.

"Orochimaru! Kabuto!" Chouji, Sai, Shino, and Kiba cried. "Release our teammates!"

"And so the cavalry arrives . . . and with good timing as well." Kabuto pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose once more. "Orochimaru-sama do I use it now?"

"No, Kabuto." The Sannin replied. "I want to see them fight the snakes off first. Let them have a good sense of togetherness. Kukukuku." His laugh was ominous as it echoed around them.

The ninja only responded with glares and promptly worked together to defeat the snakes. Before the enemy could blink, the ninja had surrounded them on all sides, blocking any chance of escape.

"Surrender—You're surrounded!" Kiba declared and Akamaru barked accordingly.

The air of the situation seemed so tense and serious that they were all completely baffled by the sudden laughter that exploded from Orochimaru.

"Ahahahahahaha!"

Confused glances were quickly exchanged.

"Kabuto, use it now!" Orochimaru commanded and Kabuto immediately bent down with quick hands making hand seals for a jutsu.

"Stop it!" Sai responded immediately and Lee charged at them with a flying kick aided with TenTen's arsenal.

But as in all stories, it was too late. Lee and the arsenal was swept aside by a snake conjured and Kabuto finished his jutsu with an evil smile. "Activate!"

They were still, confused and wary since nothing had seemed to happen. However, that rapidly changed. The kunoichi were hit hard by their teammates and the unconscious ones by the enemies' feet were also standing.

"What the heck was that for?" Temari shouted angrily, standing.

Kankuro, and Gaara only smirked. "You're too pushy." Kankuro responded. Temari felt a strange feeling inside of her.

"Kiba, Shino, what are you doing?" Hinata cried.

"Pushing you down." Kiba retorted.

"I thought were on the same side." TenTen said, glaring at Neji and Lee.

"On the same side as a weakling? I don't think so." Neji's comment was sharp and cold.

"Chouji, Shikamaru, Sai-what the heck!" Ino yelled.

"Really, we've always said you needed to shut up." Sai said and Ino's eyes widened.

"What's gotten into you now?" Sakura asked.

"Bugs shouldn't talk." Sasuke replied as he and Naruto looked down on her.

The kunoichis were now furious.

"I knew it! This was all a trick!" Ino yelled at them.

"Wait! Maybe it's not them!" Sakura cried, and they gave a quick glance in her direction. "I mean," Sakura rushed to explain, "Kabuto just did a jutsu and we thought nothing happened but what if it's mind control?"

"Sakura may be right." Hinata said. "It seems logical enough."

"And she is!" Kabuto's voice boomed from where he stood. "That's absolutely correct. They are under mind control of my command and if you want any more information about it, you'll have to defeat your comrades. But it won't be easy because I guarantee they'll be intent on killing you. Good luck." He gave the kunoichi a little wave, and the mind-controlled-shinobi attacked.

There were two shinobi fighting one kunoichi with the exception of Ino who was fighting three, which was odd because Sai hadn't exactly been a part of her team, but Sakura figured that Orochimaru wanted to pit Sasuke, his ex-apprentice, Naruto, Jiraiya's apprentice, and her, Tsunade's apprentice, dubbed the New Sannin, against each other. She wasn't far in her assumption.

Each fight spread farther and farther away from the others and soon all five battles were going on in separated and isolated parts of the forest, but not far from the original clearing where Orochimaru and Kabuto sat, enjoying the sight of each fight. Kabuto had with him a device that showed all the battles going on, allowing them to view everything.

* * *

"Why are you two under his control, huh?" Temari said, taunting her brothers. "I thought you were stronger than that." She rolled to one side, avoiding the sand.

"No, Orochimaru's side is power and we're fighting freely for him." Kankuro said with Gaara nodding beside him. His puppets moved toward her.

"Oh really?" Temari smirk was wide. "Then how come you were so intent on attacking him earlier, and why were  _you_ ," she looked at Gaara, "trying to escape?"

"That was just a ruse." Gaara responded without emotion, and Temari grit her teeth.

* * *

"So you two aren't just pretending to be controlled are you?" TenTen asked as she dodged a kick from Lee.

"We went with him willingly." Lee responded. "It's unfortunate that you fell for it so easily!"

"Me? Fall for it?" TenTen scoffed. "I was careful about you to begin with!" She threw kunai at her opponents.

"Hmph! You, careful? You're just weak and undeserving." Neji responded while easily dodging the aerial projectiles.

TenTen glared at him. "Weak? Sorry, but I don't see myself under the control of Orochimaru!"

"Again it proves my point." Neji calmly responded. "You don't know the meaning of power."

Lee soon engaged her with hand-to-hand combat.

"Don't try to fight back." Lee said as he fought. "You're efforts are really just futile and we've seen all your attacks and weapons though two years have passed."

TenTen leaped backwards from Lee, freeing herself from combat against him and pulled out the sword of her inheritance from her scroll. "Really? I doubt that you've seen this weapon before."

* * *

Sakura dodged all of Sasuke and Naruto's attacks. Years of training under Tsunade and the Hidden Grass Village in the Grass country had increased her speed, and she easily kept away from their attacks. Her problem was with the fact that they were both under mind control and she didn't know how to break the jutsu. She tried to talk sense into them.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked. "You hate Orochimaru!"

"That was then. Now we've embraced his power and love it!" Naruto replied darkly, running at her.

"But you've resisted going to the dark side before!"

"Feh. It's all about power, Sakura. Something that you couldn't possibly understand." Sasuke said.

"You turned your back on that  _power_." Sakura spat. "How can you think you are willingly returning to it?"

Sasuke drew out his sword. "Mistakes are mistakes, but Orochimaru was willing to give me another chance."

"And he can give you one too, if you join us." Naruto said, him and Sasuke cornering Sakura. "As someone trained by one of the Sannin, I'm sure Orochimaru would love to add you to our team."

"Yes, and if you're willing to choose power with us then you're proving yourself not weak and capable." Sasuke said.

"You're just under his mind control!" Sakura retorted. "Naruto, Sasuke, fight it! You're stronger than him!"

* * *

Ino flipped over the heads of her ex-comrades, careful to stay away from the shade of the trees. "Is this a trick you're planning Shikamaru?"

"No, everything is completely genuine." Shikamaru responded in his usual voice, and Ino found it hard to believe that it wasn't just a ruse.

Sai unleashed an army of ink mice at Ino and Chouji rolled at her. Ino rolled to the right and tsked in her head. Her techniques were mind control and healing—not very offense against them.

"Fight it fatso!" she yelled at Chouji, trying to bring out the personality that hated to be called fat.

"Chubby not fat, and I'm not prone to anger!" Chouji yelled and sprang at her.

She gave him one of her obnoxious smiles. "Oh really? Then what was that?" she taunted.

"Ugh!" Ino was attacked by Sai from behind, and caught off guard could not block his kick.

She laid on the ground, fumbling to stand as the two stood before her. Suddenly, she found herself standing, but not of her own accord. She realized that in the moment she wasn't moving, Shikamaru had taken control of her body with his shadow jutsu. She glared at them as they stood there, watching her.

"You're all smart, why can't you tell you are being controlled?" she asked, hoping her mouth could stall for her.

"Control? Are you still caught up in that idea?" Sai scoffed. "We're here of our own will."

"He's right and we're attacking you because you're against us." Chouji agreed.

Ino gave a hollow laugh. "Are you kidding me? You heard him admit that he put you guys under his control!"

She gained no response.

* * *

Hinata, as much as she disliked it, was running from her old ex-teammates. Although she knew she had grown faster due to her training, she knew that Kiba and Akamaru had more than likely gotten much faster as well. She had to put some distance between herself and them so she could plan out her next steps. She went faster, but kept at an able pace to reserve her stamina.

Using her Byakugan, she was able to judge the distance between them, and knew exactly how far away they were. When she was far enough, she quickly stopped and set several traps, and then waited for their arrival.

She did not have long to wait as her ex-teammates crashed through moments later. Kiba and Akamaru were unlucky enough to fall straight into her trap, but Shino was not, and he came from behind Hinata. However, Hinata had not forgotten about Shino like others would, and was ready when he struck.

She parried his attacks and then matched his blows fist-to-fist. Instead of asking questions to dislodge him, Hinata continued to strike the bug-user, pushing him back until he fell to the ground having tripped over a large rock. Immediately as he was down, Hinata used her Jyuuken on him, paralyzing his limbs, and sealed off his chakra points for the time being. She kept an eye out for his Kikaichū bugs but there were nowhere to be seen.

She strode over to Kiba and Akamaru who had broken free of her traps and where about to attack her. With no hesitation, Hinata threw kunai at them before they could attack and while they were dodging she sealed up their chakra points and blocked their movement.

After that, she dragged the three so they lay together next to each other.

"Never thought that weak, timid, Hinata could do this to you, huh?" Hinata said looming above the three. "So why do you refuse to believe you are under the control of Orochimaru and Kabuto?"

"Peh! We are not!" Kiba shouted. "We joined willingly!"

Akamaru barked in agreement, and Hinata wondered how Orochimaru managed to brainwash Akamaru as well. She guessed it was through Akamaru and Kiba's strong bonds together.

"You could join us." Shino stated, and the three looked at him.

"Why would I do that?"

"To join the winning side of power."

"Well it's not that simple."

"We'll guarantee your membership."

"What's the benefit of this membership?"

"Power to rule the world."

"Hmm . . ."

* * *

As Kabuto and Orochimaru watched the battles, amusement was reflected on their faces. But next to it was certain confusion as well.

"Why do they keep asking those kunoichi to join? They are merely to eliminate them." Orochimaru remarked.

"It is probably the only thing they could think of, Orochimaru-sama." Kabuto replied.

"Yes, but the other word they could say is 'kill'."

"Yes, but this will help lower the kunoichi's guard, if they think they are getting through to the shinobi, but which they are not."

Look at the battles, they saw Temari stalling, TenTen fighting, a cornered Sakura, and Ino who was at a standstill. Kabuto's eyes narrowed when he saw Hinata's battle and found that she had subdued both of the shinobi, instead of the other way around.

"Orochimaru-sama, I am sorry for their incompetence." Kabuto said apologetically.

"Kukukuku . . . no worries Kabuto." Orochimaru replied. "Let's visit her first then, shall we?"

The two shinobi stood and vanished.

* * *

"It sounds very tempting." Hinata said in a convincing tone. "But I don't know if they'll let me join."

"Well," Kiba said, but was interrupted by the appearance of Orochimaru and Kabuto.

"We definitely won't let her join." Kabuto stated. "It is simple for the fact that she is hesitant on the matter of joining. If she was strong then she wouldn't need to think about such matters."

"Ah, that is right." Kiba said. Akamaru remained silent.

"So you won't let me join?" Hinata asked with a slight pout. "And I was just thinking of taking up your offer." Inside, her mind raced to stall the shinobi and she was on her guard in case of any sudden attack.

* * *

Temari had turned the tables, and was now advancing toward Kankuro and Gaara, determined to be the winner of the battle. A shriek led her to stop her attack and she left the scene after a split decision. The brothers followed her immediately.

* * *

TenTen rushed at Neji and Lee with her sword, swinging it this way and that. It glittered in the light and flashed with different colors. Both Neji and Lee seemed to be pushed back, but TenTen wasn't buying it, and watched for the time when they would split up to attack.

It came very soon with Neji as a rushing distraction and Lee as a sneaky back attack. Quickly, she fought off Neji and turned to block Lee just in time.

"Give up." TenTen told him.

"Never!" Lee shouted, and kicked her, but she sidestepped that and threw him to the ground. Just as she was about to attack she heard a shriek, and leapt back.

' _That was Hinata!'_

Casting a glance back at her opponents, TenTen rushed away and was followed.

* * *

It seemed that talking wasn't convincing them, but Sakura had to stall for time. As soon as they got closer, she punched them hard in the stomach, and was rewarded with pushing them back as well as cracking a few ribs.

"You'll pay for that!" Sasuke shouted angrily, struggling to get up.

As Naruto limped toward her, Sakura heard the shriek of Hinata, and was immediately concerned.

"Yeah, I think that will happen later. . . Bye!" Sakura dashed off and the two limply followed her.

* * *

As soon as Ino heard the shriek of Hinata, she used a new surge of strength to suddenly attack and throw the three shinobi off guard. Kicking them hard and then barraging them with a set of hidden kunais—one of her three reserves—she successfully was able to stand free for a moment.

But she did not wait to relish her victory—she left to go to Hinata without delay for Shikamaru could still have gotten her with his shadow technique.

After they recovered, the shinobi dashed after her.

* * *

It came suddenly, and Hinata was sent flying from the force of the attack, despite her guard against it.

She tried not to say anything, but could not help but emit a rather loud shriek when her back hit a large rock after going through the trunk of a tree.

"Ugh . . . "

Hinata's back was largely bruised, and as she struggled to stand, snakes attacked her, commanded by Kabuto. She braced herself for an attack, but it never reached her since a sudden swarm of black formed a wall and blocked the snakes. Then, the wall changed to cover the now-writhing snake and restrain it from attacking once more.

Hinata was close enough to recognize the Kikaichū bugs of Shino, and her eyes widened since she knew that Shino was still under Orochimaru's control. Why then, would he send his bugs to help her?

Shino, however, was just as surprised at everyone in the clearing and he just looked at them when they turned to him. He tried to command his bugs not a single one retreated.

It didn't take Hinata more than two seconds to figure out that the Kikaichū bugs were acting of their own free will and she quickly made her next move. Concentrating, she made a calculating leap away from the bug swarm and landed near the immobile Shino, Kiba, and Akamaru. As Kabuto de-summoned the restrained snake and summoned a new one, Hinata took that opportunity to remove Akamaru's immobility by using Jyuuken on him once more.

She hoped she had made the right choice when Kabuto's new snake attacked her and she wasn't disappointed when the dog-nin tackled the advancing snake, preventing it from reaching her.

The four shinobi were surprised by this display, and Kabuto gave the immobile shinobi a cool glance.

"Can't you do something about this?"

In response, Kiba said, "Call off your snake first!"

Kabuto twitched, but complied with the task and the two fighting animals backed off.

Kiba then proceeded to ask Akamaru. "What are you doing?"

Akamaru answered in a series of sharp barks but never once took his eyes off of the snake whom he considered an enemy.

While Kiba was communicating with Akamaru, Shino turned to Orochimaru and Kabuto, and asked aloud, "Could you possibly make us mobile?"

Kabuto moved forward to check Shino after a glance at Orochimaru, and hit a couple of his pressure points. "Try that."

Shino managed to wiggle his arm slightly, so Kabuto hit the rest of his pressure points and then moved on to Kiba.

"Don't forget that brat, Kabuto." Orochimaru said. "She's trying to edge away."

While the shinobi were distracted, Hinata had managed to move away from them and was only stopped by Orochimaru's voice that stated her status.

Of course, all eyes had to turn to her and Kabuto turned to Shino and said, "Well? Capture her!"

Kiba was still occupied with Akamaru, but when Shino leapt at Hinata, Akamaru ran behind Hinata while Shino's Kikaichū bugs came to the front. Seeing his bugs before him made him hesitate in his attack, but Kiba's loud voice yelled at him to not hit Akamaru. Shino frowned, seeing as Akamaru wasn't really near him and his bugs were much closer, but he didn't respond.

That's when the thirteen other shinobi crashed through one after the other onto the scene.

* * *

**There is only one chapter left to this story and anyone who submits a review shall be mentioned in the last chapter! Please stick with me until the very end, and I hope you all enjoy reading this story!**

**Thanks to** Neguru Sucashi **,** Rei Sagara **,** xxjimmyxx1 **,** Rixclassa **, and** Dancing-Souls **for reviewing!**


	28. Final Fight and Epilogue

**The Kunoichis That Didn't Belong Ch. 28**

**Titled: Final Fight and Epilogue of What Happened After**

**Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN NARUTO!**

* * *

Recap:  _Of course, all eyes had to turn to her and Kabuto turned to Shino and said, "Well? Capture her!"_

_Kiba was still occupied with Akamaru, but when Shino leapt at Hinata, Akamaru ran behind Hinata while Shino's Kikaich_ _ū_ _bugs came to the front. Seeing his bugs before him made him hesitate in his attack, but Kiba's loud voice yelled at him to not hit Akamaru. Shino frowned, seeing as Akamaru wasn't really near him and his bugs were much closer, but he didn't respond._

_That's when the thirteen other shinobi crashed through one after the other onto the scene._

* * *

**Place: Forest** **Clearing**

**Date: Day of Meeting**

"Hinata!" The four kunoichi immediately raced toward her. Temari and TenTen reached her first, so they pushed back Shino away from Hinata. Sakura and Ino reached them a moment later and those two helped to heal Hinata's wounds while the other two kept a defense against the enemy.

"Are Shino and Kiba on our side?" Ino whispered as Sakura patched up Hinata's back.

She shook her head. "No, but Akamaru and the Kikaichū bugs are."

Ino raised an eyebrow. "Ok, weird, but good to know."

Sakura finished healing Hinata and the three turned their attention to the other side of the clearing where the enemies lay.

* * *

All the shinobi were lined up across from the kunoichi with Orochimaru and Kabuto at the way end. The kunoichi took on a similar formation, copycatting them.

Under her breath but loud enough for the girls to hear, TenTen said, "Since they're under mind control, we'll have to attack Kabuto and Orochimaru, am I right Ino?"

"Yes, and maybe hold him hostage and force him to undo the jutsu." Ino said. "But since he'll likely refuse, see if he summons an object—it would hold the seal or jutsu and if it breaks then the whole thing breaks."

"So how do we identify this object?" Hinata asked. "And why would he summon it out anyway?"

"Well, if he sealed away like TenTen does with her weapons he has to summon it. But if not, then the object is most likely on him or Orochimaru!"

"What do we do if it's sealed?" Sakura asked.

"Then we'll just have to make him summon it." Ino responded with determination.

"Okay, who will do what? We should split it by job." Temari said. "I'll be offensive."

"Well, I think that Hinata should go for Orochimaru and Kabuto. Sakura, and Ino, you should go with her as well." TenTen said. "I'm sure me and Temari can hold them off long enough for you to reach them."

"Yeah, but those two are the stronger shinobi—we should all team up against them and attack together." Sakura stated.

"That's true but we don't want the numbers to overwhelm." TenTen said.

"But we're outnumbered anyway!" Sakura argued.

"We could still have a chance." TenTen said.

"Guys, let's not argue." Hinata said persuasively. "Let's quickly tell each other what we want to do before the fight starts—I don't think they will wait any longer."

"I am going head on attack." Temari immediately said.

"As will I." TenTen said.

"I shall go after Kabuto and Orochimaru, so you'll have to clear a path and cover for me." Hinata told them. "I also believe that Shino's Kikaichū bugs and Akamaru will aid me, won't you?" She turned to the animal and insect as she spoke and they nodded and buzzed in agreement.

"Well, we can't just let Hinata face those two alone—I'll go with her." Ino said.

They looked at Sakura who sighed.

"Fine. I'll go with Ino and Hinata." Sakura said, agreeing. "But I'm afraid that we won't be strong enough to defeat or subdue them."

"Don't doubt yourself, Sakura." Temari said with a smirk. "Use what you've learned."

* * *

"Shouldn't we attack now?" Sasuke asked Kabuto impatiently.

"No, just wait a little more." Kabuto said. "It'll be fun to see them set a plan in motion and then watch it crumble before their eyes."

"Well, I guess." Naruto said doubtfully and Sai and Chouji nodded slightly as well.

"Tch." Neji scoffed at them. "I agree with the Uchiha—better to strike first and gain a sure victory than to gloat with self-confidence and then loose." He stated.

"Oh, but weren't you like that?" Kabuto said in a mocking voice. "If I seem to recall, in the battle against Naruto in the Chuunin Exams, you were overconfident but lost."

Neji glowered darkly at Kabuto. "Yes, and that's why we should attack now."

"Well, us attacking is very much like your battle as well. But the difference is that we simply won't loose. Do you follow?" Kabuto asked.

Neji glanced away with narrowed eyes. "Fine. We'll do it your way."

Kabuto smiled. "Good."

Lee, Naruto, Sai, Sasuke, Chouji, and Kiba exchanged uneasy glances while Kankuro, Gaara, Shino, and Shikamaru remained indifferent. It seemed that they would have to choose between Neji and Kabuto . . . not now, but very soon.

"Well, what else should the plan be?" Lee asked, trying to disperse the atmosphere. "Shouldn't we strategize?"

"Yes, but I think that Shikamaru here already has a plan." Kabuto replied smoothly and glance at Shikamaru.

The Nara gave a sigh. "Yeah, I got a plan."

As Naruto opened his mouth, Shikamaru continued to speak. "And yes, I have a good idea of what they," he gestured to the girls, "are going to do next as well. Just listen, Naruto."

Naruto closed his mouth and they all hushed to hear Shikamaru's plan.

* * *

"Alright, it's now or never." Ino said.

"Ino's right." Temari agreed, impatient. "And I'm guessing lazy-ass over there is already done formulating about seventy plans against us, so we have to use surprise to our advantage."

"It looks like they're ready for us though." Sakura pointed out.

Ino let out a short bark of laughter. "Hah! Yeah, right!" She shook her head. "No, they're still talking, like we were a second ago. Planning."

"Then we should attack now." Hinata said fiercely.

"Let's go." TenTen said, fingering a round object in her hand. She then leapt high into the air and lobbed it towards the shinobi side.

* * *

They stopped listened to Shikamaru as one of the kunoichi leapt into the air and threw something at them.

The object, if the target was the shinobi, missed—stopping short of them by at least five feet, and Chouji said as much.

But Shikamaru, the genius, only shook his head. "Not that simple, I'm afraid. Look." He gestured and they looked in the pointed direction to see that smoke had been billowing out and had rapidly covered much of the clearing with a thick smoke, so that it was impossible to see through it.

The advancing smoke was soon quickly upon and among the shinobi, and they covered their mouths so as not to breathe it in. Silence was everywhere as the enemy could find them with the slightest sound and the shinobi were blind in this state. But the same could also go for the kunoichi.

Eyes flickered in every direction, a constant turning to maybe catch the enemy. Some efforts to dispel the smoke was used but only succeeded in sending the smoke to spread around them which didn't help.

White Byakugan eyes scanned the area as red Sharingan eyes attempted to detect movement. Sand spread across the clearing, hoping to be given clues to the enemy's whereabouts and ink creatures were sent out in patrols. Only ten clones were created and discreet sniffing as well as sharp ears of no avail was used. The rest of the shinobi could only be on their guard, that of the kunoichi as well.

* * *

It was then that the kunoichi struck. Hard and fast.

They were upon the guarded shinobi in a matter of minutes and soon fighting could be heard everywhere. All they could do was fight and hope it was the enemy while trying not to attack each other.

* * *

Sai leapt into the air on an ink creature but was struck with kunai before he could gain the altitude of flight.

* * *

Naruto, all ten of him, ran around screaming to alert his teammates of his location. Though it was risky since the kunoichi could also hear him, he took it because there was ten of him and it was in his personality to do so.

* * *

Gaara's sand had spread out and alerted him to who was where, and so he had a general idea of his teammates' position. Then he got barraged by a lot of kunai so he had to retract most of his sand to cover and protect him. He also shot out sand in different directions, hoping to hit his unseen enemy.

* * *

Sand covered Kankuro from head to toe and he let out a spluttered "Hey!" in the direction of where he believed his brother to be. Then, he quickly raised his kunai to block an incoming attack from his left.

* * *

Sasuke cursed as he was barraged by senbon from three directions and he tried to dodge as much as he could. However, he couldn't see anything in this damned smoke and he couldn't send anything out since he didn't want to accidentally hit his ally. But as he dodged an exploding tag tied to a kunai, Sasuke grit his teeth and threw several exploding tags attached to kunai out. He'd have to take that chance.

* * *

Lee and Neji were whirlwinds as they blocked and deflected the flying projectiles. Senbon, kunai, tanto, katana, and tonfa littered the ground around them, unable to even scrape the two teammates.

"Neji, can you see?" Lee asked, still in a stance on his guard.

Neji smirked with Byakugan-activated eyes. "Perfectly."

* * *

Shino, Kiba, and Chouji were back-to-back in a triangle facing the smoke, all three wary and on guard. They had heard the fights around them, yet they had not been attacked.

"Maybe they've just missed us." Chouji suggested quietly.

"Perhaps." Shino agreed. "What can you smell, Kiba?"

"Nothing but the stench of mixed smoke—what on earth was used?" Kiba responded.

They were silent for a moment after that, but not for long.

"Duck!" Shino ordered and the two followed him in dropping down to the ground. Several makibishi flew past them, and landed on the ground right next to Chouji.

A moment later, a running Naruto crashed into Kiba, but missed Chouji and Shino because they got out of the way just in time.

"Oof!"

"Naruto? Watch where you're going idiot!" Kiba growled as he pulled Naruto off him.

The blonde sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry Kiba." He then put his hands together in front of him and created twenty more clones. "Okay, let's spread out and draw them out!" Naruto told his clones. "And help our teammates!"

"YEAH!" The Narutos cheered loudly and ran off with determination.

"Come on, we should stick together." Naruto said to Shino, Kiba, Chouji, all of whom nodded and followed him into the smoke.

* * *

Kabuto and Orochimaru were a safe distance away from all the fighting happening around and in front of them.

"Orochimaru-sama, should we go now?" Kabuto asked.

"No, no. I want to see the outcome of this Kabuto." Orochimaru replied. "Don't you want to see?"

"Of course I do." Kabuto replied with a smile.

However, inside of him was confused, wary, and even a bit worried. The shinobi had constantly asked the kunoichi to join them in the dark side. Though they were following their orders, Kabuto wondered if some compassion within them had driven them to spare the kunoichi they were sent to attack. Really, they should have been sent to attack the kunoichi different teams . . . but Orochimaru and himself as well, had wanted to see the girls suffer at seeing their once-closest friend and allies attacking them directly and that would help to crush them brutally.

True, the shinobi still retained their personalities, but that was expected because he and Orochimaru had only brainwashed them to make them obey their orders. However, it was a bit disconcerting to see much more of the personalities showing . . . That was displayed when Neji argued against him.

Maybe something was wrong with  _it_.

Kabuto glanced around cautiously and then discreetly reached a hand into the inside of his vest, taking out a long rectangular object. The rectangular box-like object was like a wooden block, but hollow and light. It fit right in his vest and was colored orange, cream, and white.

Upon inspection, he found two cracks running along the side of it. He narrowed his eyes at this sight and frowned, expression darkening.

* * *

Kankuro had managed to reach Gaara and now the two brothers were fighting side-by-side. It seemed as if the projectiles being flung at them would never cease to end.

But slowly, the smoke was lifting.

* * *

Hinata, with her Byakugan-activated eyes, had led her team of attackers to the place where Orochimaru and Kabuto were waiting the fights out. With her in the lead, they managed to dodge all the confused and attacking shinobi and thrown weapons, while stealthily approaching their targets.

"Kikaichū and Akamaru. Do you know where the object Ino was talking about is?" Hinata asked the dog-nin and the insects who were on either side of her.

The Kikaichū bugs buzzed a 'yes' and Akamaru agreed with a nod.

"Good." Hinata said. "Can you possibly get it if we distract them? Plan 148, just like in training. Distract and Acquire."

"What's that?" Sakura asked Hinata curiously from the left side of Hinata.

"It's nothing, just a plan." Hinata said. "Don't worry, their on our side."

"I see them!" Ino hissed, and they fell silent and ready to attack.

Hinata's eyes saw Kabuto and an object in his hand. Her eyes narrowed and she made that her target.

Taking out ten kunai, Hinata ran straight at them from the front and threw the weapons with precise precision.

Ino and Sakura, following the plan, fanned out to the east and west side of Orochimaru and Kabuto, surrounding them. Then, they too attacked.

* * *

Kabuto was startled when the kunai were launched. He had not expected them to attack him, and had been caught off guard. He quickly stuffed the hollow block inside his jacket and dodged the remaining kunai. He glanced at Orochimaru who was hold his own quite well and fighting back against two kunoichi—the pinkette Sakura and the blonde Ino.

Focusing his attention back to his own battle just in time, Kabuto managed to dodge another kunai aimed at him.

"Come out and face me!" He called, trying to draw her out.

The Hyuuga came willingly at a charge, but the missing-nin was ready this time and fought back in hand-to-hand combat. As he fought her, he realized that she had become quite formidable, and twice he had to concentrate on his own moves so as to block her incoming fists.

It was perhaps two minutes into the battle that he realized she was aiming for his internal chakra points. He mentally berated himself since he knew she was a Hyuuga and he should have known better than to let her get that close to immobilizing him.

He struck out his leg to kick her and she kicked him at the same time he did, so that they both flew apart from each other. But neither would give up so both rushed back at each other to attack.

* * *

TenTen wondered if the others were doing okay in disabling the leaders. She was currently atop a tree and had been aiming several projectiles at Sasuke who was about two feet away from her. Then, she would jump from tree to tree and attack the many Narutos below. Temari, on the other hand, had been striking Sai down from his ink creature of flight and had also been attacking her brothers.

Both knew they had to finish quickly since they had to help out Ino, Hinata, and Sakura fight Orochimaru and Kabuto. There was also the fact that they knew the smoke was slowly dispersing, and with it would be their cover.

* * *

Orochimaru had never once been off of his guard, and so he knew it when he was attacked by Sakura and Ino at the same time.

He easily dodged their attacks, and while he was being haughty about it, he was also taking care to not get hit by the pinkette's fists. After all, she  _had_  been trained by Tsunade, and so thus shared the same tremendous amount of strength that befit a Sannin.

"You really should give up. This is all very pointless." He said to taunt them.

"Never!" Ino shouted defiantly and kept attacking Orochimaru as well as evading his attacks.

* * *

"There." Neji pointed after he scanned the entire area with Byakugan. "I believe that to be Temari's chakra signature."

"Right." Lee ran straight to the given direction and used a flying kick, solidly connecting with someone.

Neji turned and grabbed two of the nearby Narutos. "Help Lee." He said, even though he knew fully well that Lee would need no help. But it would be good for his teammates to know where one of the enemies resided at.

Both Narutos nodded and ran after Lee.

* * *

Sasuke was with Naruto, Shino, Kiba, and Chouji, and several other clones of Naruto who had joined him three minutes ago. He hated being so helpless but he wouldn't let that stop him from attacking. Their opponent had to be here somewhere and he fully intended to find her.

* * *

Temari was struck in the side unsuspectingly by Lee's flying kick. Cursing at herself for being caught off guard, she fought back.

Following Lee were two Narutos and she became outnumbered three to one. But the numbers evened out soon enough and then it was just Lee versus Temari once more.

Lee, as the expert taijutsu user of the both of them, was very difficult to wear out. Temari found herself glad to have increased her own stamina and strength during her time in the Hidden Snow Village in the Snow Country, Yukigakure. She guessed that she would not even have stood a chance against Lee, much less the other shinobi, without it.

Sai entered the scene, changing the numbers of the battle, but Temari held her own against the both of them.

Then her brothers appeared, and quickly aided Lee with disabling their sister.

* * *

Concentrating, TenTen aimed several weapons at Sasuke but did not launch it. Instead she dropped to the ground off of the tree and faced Neji, dodging the sent kunai that had flown at her in process.

"Neji."

"TenTen."

Their greetings were short, and monotone. Silence passed between them and soon, both eyes narrowed in unison as their bodies attacked each other simultaneously.

Their fight, much like a spar from the old days of them being teammates, ended greatly like it often did. With Neji as the winner and TenTen as the loser. And now, Neji's kunai was held menacingly at TenTen neck.

* * *

Everything was suddenly clear. The fog of smoke had dispersed, letting everything come out into the open.

* * *

The scene before them was a strange sight.

Five Narutos were scattered in the clearing—far away from any fight. They had very clearly run in the wrong direction.

Ino was on the ground, unable to move with Orochimaru's weapon pointing straight at her.

Sakura was already lying on the floor, her crumpled form not moving.

Kabuto held Hinata by the neck and was threatening to crush it with the slightest twitch of his fingers.

Sasuke, Shino, Naruto, two Naruto clones, Kiba, and Chouji had weapons out and were ready to attack the enemy.

TenTen was at the mercy of Neji as he was behind her and holding a kunai at her neck, preventing her movement.

Lee, Sai, Gaara, and Kankuro had Temari backed up against a tree.

* * *

"Kukuku . . ." Orochimaru said, his horrible laughter lingering in the still air. "I believe we have won."

* * *

As Orochimaru spoke, Temari used the small sliver of the moment to use what she called an opportunity. Moving her hand, she quickly reached behind her back, drew out and snapped open her giant fan to reveal all three of the purple moons.

During the entire period of the fight, from the start where TenTen threw the smoke bomb, she had not once used it. It hadn't been the time for it, and using it might have blown away their cover. But their cover was gone and her teammates were being threatened. She was sure now was the time to attack, and quickly swept the wind at Sasuke's group, blowing them off the ground to crash into Orochimaru.

That was the only attack she was allowed, for her brothers quickly took a hold of her fan, restraining her from using it. They were not cut from the steel points because they knew the right place to hold the fan without gaining injury.

* * *

Hinata, was just as decisive and quick as Temari even though she was currently being strangled to death by Kabuto. When Temari sent Sasuke, Shino, Naruto, Chouji, and Kiba slamming into Orochimaru, she used some of her precious air to shout hoarsely, "Now!"

* * *

At her word, a black cloud swarmed Kabuto directly. Instead of letting go, he responded by tightening his grip of Hinata, further cutting her air supply.

To his surprise, the bugs left Kabuto unharmed, and Hinata had not been rescued from his grasp. But as he looked at the cloud of bugs, he quickly recognized the hollow box within their grip. Directly underneath them was that stupid mutt of the Inuzuka's and when the box dropped from the air, the dog caught it in his mouth.

"Don't-!" Kabuto shouted as Akamaru fully crushed the hollow box in his mouth shattering it into thousands of pieces.

Kabuto cursed and turned his attention back to the Hyuuga in his grasp, and he made his hands tightened the grip he had around her neck. And that's when he found himself unable to move.

* * *

**-(A/N: Insert Naruto Main Theme here and let it continue all the way through. Put it on Repeat if you have to. You don't have to play it out loud. Just think about it in your head. xP)-**

"I don't think you should treat a girl like that." Shikamaru's lazy voice drifted into clearing, and Kabuto's eyes traveled downward to the floor where he saw the shadow connecting him to Shikamaru was. His eyes went back to Hinata when he felt his hands open, releasing her from his grasp. She fell to the floor, half-conscious and wheezing for breath.

TenTen found herself immediately released from Neji's kunai.

Temari's fan was freed from her brothers' hold over it and they, along with Sai and Lee turned to face Orochimaru's direction.

Sasuke, Shino, Naruto, Kiba, and Chouji all had the fortune of crashing into Orochimaru when Temari blew them over, and as soon as Akamaru broke the box, they quickly held the Sannin down, trapping him.

Ino crawled discreetly and quickly over to where Sakura's crumpled form lay and where Hinata was as well, and started to heal the both of them with her last reserves of chakra, trusting that the Orochimaru and Kabuto would be dealt with by the shinobi and that they would protect them should anything unexpected happened. The box containing the jutsu was broken and the guys were no longer under Orochimaru and Kabuto's control—she was certain of that.

With everyone back to normal, the tables of battle had turned with them overpowering Orochimaru and Kabuto. Using a lot of powerful and advanced jutsus, the S-ranked shinobi were disabled and imprisoned very quickly.

Sai was sent as a messenger to Konoha, and returned in the greatest speeds ever recorded with almost a battalion of elite ANBU. It was in fact, every ANBU available. Those shinobi went and seized the S-ranked ninja that was in custody of Shikamaru, Shino, Kiba, and Sasuke on the path away from the battle-marked clearing.

The ANBU left with Orochimaru and Kabuto in custody and with the shinobi, Shino, Kiba, Akamaru, Lee, Chouji, Gaara, and Kankuro in their company.

The ninja left behind headed towards the Hidden Star Village, Hoshigakure.

* * *

**Place: Hoshigakure**

**Date: Three Days after Meeting**

"Ah, welcome back, welcome back!" Raika said, greeting the kunoichi that entered the room.

"We heard about Orochimaru getting captured by Konoha ANBU—it's all anyone can talk about!" Rayku said excitedly.

"Do you have it? The Ninkaidan Scroll?" Raika asked urgently.

TenTen nodded and presented the box in which they had sealed the scroll. Rayku took the scroll and examined it with a scrutinizing eye, and nodded in satisfaction. "Good job girls. You did great."

Raika nodded. "You can take a rest now and then start going on missions together from here on out! Won't that be great?"

The returned kunoichi exchanged glances with each other.

"Actually," TenTen looked her aunts straight in the eye. "We wish to resign from Organization O.S.U.Y."

However, they did not look surprised, only smiled gently. "We understand why you ask this request, and we've already decided to let you go should you ask us. You are relieved of your membership." Raika said.

"Your mentors and teammates have been informed prior to today and have given their consent this morning."

The kunoichi were speechless.

"Thank you, aunties." TenTen said gratefully, and bowed her head.

The others followed her example, and said in unison, "Thank you."

Rayku smiled at them. "Now, you should rest here tonight and then leave with good strength tomorrow."

"Good night girls. Have a pleasant return."

* * *

"Sakura." Sasuke faced the pinkette seriously.

"What is it, Sasuke?" she asked, not glancing at him.

"I'm sorry for hurting you."

Sakura's green eyes landed on him in surprise, and she saw his honesty.

"Me too."

"Can you forgive me? I never really meant any of that."

"I suppose I could."

Sasuke's lips touched hers and they briefly kissed.

Breaking away, Sasuke said, "Really?"

"Yes, if you don't fall under that kind of control again." She said teasingly. There was a twinkle in her eye as she smiled at him. "And if you kiss me again." She added softly.

He gave her a smirk and their lips met once again.

* * *

"Hinata-chan, I know it's late, but I like you a lot, and when I was trapped in the fog of that mind control, I couldn't control my actions, and I'm really, really,  _really_  sorry!" Naruto bowed to Hinata profusely announcing his apologies.

A startled Hinata stuttered out, "I-It's okay Naruto."

"No! It's not!" Naruto exclaimed. "I should have been stronger, but I wasn't and you got hurt!"

Hinata blushed and smiled at Naruto. "It's really alright Naruto. It wasn't your fault. I forgive you."

"No! I'll make myself stronger to protect you, Hinata-chan!" Naruto's cerulean-blue eyes had a determined gleam to them. "That's a promise, Hinata-chan! BELIEVE IT!"

Hinata smiled, but shook her head. "Thank you Naruto-kun, but I'm stronger now too, so I can protect myself. I'm not weak you know." She said gently.

"I don't think you're weak!" he said with wide eyes. "Actually, I think I'm gonna have to train harder to catch up to you!"

She blushed at the compliment. "Thanks Naruto-kun."

"I know!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly. "Let's both work together to become the strongest!"

"Okay!" she said happily.

"That's a promise! Dattebayo!"

With that said, Naruto grabbed her hand and pulled her into a deep hug. Her whole face turned red and as old habits died hard, Hinata Hyuuga fainted in Naruto's arms.

Feeling the limpness, Naruto looked at Hinata and screamed.

"GAAAAAAAAAHHH! HINATA-CHAN! ARE YOU OKAY? WHAT'S WRONG?"

* * *

**Back in Konoha . . .**

Kiba and Shino turned back towards the direction of where the rest of the shinobi team were supposed to be at.

"Hey, Shino, I got a feeling that Hinata fainted again . . ."

"I felt it too."

* * *

Ino looked shyly at Sai.

"Hey, thanks for saving me back there." She said. "You know, when I was falling."

"Oh, you're welcome. But it was nothing. Friends help each other." He said with a smile.

"Ah, right. Friends." Ino's voice managed to take on a disappointed tone, and Sai noticed it.

"Is something wrong, Ino-san?"

"Um, no. It's nothing." Ino turned her face away. She didn't know why she couldn't just tell him.

Examining her, Sai asked, "Are you sure?"

Ino took a deep breath and then turned to face him. "Actually there is something. I really like you. A lot."

Sai looked at her, caught off guard, but he gave her a smile.

"Can you wait for me to get used to my emotions first?"

"Okay . . ." Ino said, "But, can I help you?"

"Of course. I was going to ask you to." Sai then smiled at her and she could tell it was genuine.

* * *

"Temari, it's a troublesome feeling I have." Shikamaru's brown eyes stared seriously into Temari's own teal eyes. "I hate myself for letting all of this happen, yet I am heartened by the outcome that has resulted from it."

"What-"

"I love you." He said, cutting her off.

And then he looked up at the cloudy sky.

Temari's own face was also shocked but then she smiled and turned her gaze to the sky as well.

"I love you too."

* * *

"Are you alright?" Neji asked, staring at her.

"Yeah." TenTen said.

"I apologize for my words and actions." His words struck her, and she replied with sureness.

"I accept your apology."

He looked her in the eyes. "Will you come back?"

She stared into his white orbs and saw what was reflected in there. "Yes." She said with no reservation.

* * *

**Place: Konohagakure**

**Date: Four Days after Meeting**

"So we were all under their mind control from the beginning of when you kunoichi left." Tsunade stated after hearing their report.

They nodded, and Tsunade leaned back in her chair.

"Well, then. You all have certainly had a long journey. I guess I should say only three words." She smiled at them "Welcome back home."

Smiling with over-happiness, the ninja left the Hokage building in pairs, holding the hand of their love tightly while exiting.

* * *

Finally, the kunoichis found the place where they belonged at.

Home.

* * *

**Hello everyone! This is the end of The Kunoichis That Didn't Belong. I'm glad that it was finished and supported by so many people as well. Thank you all for reading and sticking with it until the very end!**

**And the contest thing at the end of Chapter 18 still applies if you want to try and find it. But I've looked and finding that story doesn't seem very likely. However, I may be wrong. So if you think you can find it, be my guest because the contest is still ongoing until the searched-for-story can be found!**

**Here is a special thanks to** Oh My Fudge **, who helped me with the ending dialogue of the NaruHina, InoSai and ShikaTema moment. She would also like to let you all know that she is really against NaruHina. She actually is a huge supporter of GaaHina and only helped me because I asked. ^ ^**

**Now, I guess this is what you all were waiting for—the list of people who reviewed! Check it out in alphabetical order!**

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